f and  &®ak  Ser 


R  OBI  SON 


THE    HANDBOOK    SERIES 


VOCATIONAL 
EDUCATION 


THE  HANDBOOK  SERIES 


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MENTS $2.40 
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$1.25  net 


THE    HANDBOOK    SERIES 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION 


Compiled  by 
EMILY  ROBISON 

Second  and  Revised  Edition 
By  JULIA  E.  JOHNSEN 


NEW  YORK 

THE  H.  W.  WILSON  COMPANY 

LONDON:    GRAFTON    &    COMPANY 

1921 


Published  January,  1918 
Second  Edition,  January,  1921 


EXPLANATORY  NOTE 

The  subject  of  vocational  education  is  so  broad  and  the  ma- 
terial is  so  widely  scattered  that  this  attempt  has  been  made  to 
represent  in  one  volume  the  leading  points  of  view  in  the  dis- 
cussion. Both  vocational  education  in  general  and  teaching 
in  the  public  schools  of  industrial,  commercial  and  household 
art  subjects,  have  been  covered. 

This  source  book  may  be  helpful  to  teachers  of  vocational 
education  and  students  who  are  training  to  be  public  school 
teachers,  as  well  as  people  who  have  only  a  general  intelligent 
interest  in  education,  by  outlining  the  subject  as  a  whole  and  by 
directing,  through  its  bibliography,  the  development  of  investiga- 
tion in  any  of  the  various  phases  of  the  subject.  No  attempt 
has  been  made  to  duplicate  the  material  in  the  excellent  volume 
compiled  by  Meyer  Bloomfield  on  vocational  guidance. 

The  practical  examples  were  chosen  in  the  hope  that  they 
might  stimulate  other  educators  to  further  effort  in  solving  the 
problems  of  education  for  all  the  members  of  their  communities. 

E.  R. 
April,  10,  1917. 


EXPLANATORY  NOTE  FOR 
SECOND  EDITION 

In  this  new  edition  of  Vocational  Education  students  and 
readers  are  offered  a  bibliography  brought  down  to  date  by  the 
inclusion  of  nearly  three  hundred  selected  references  to  recent 
material  and  an  addition  of  fifty  pages  of  new  reprints. 

Since  the  first  edition  of  this  Handbook  was  issued  the  func- 
tions of  the  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education  have  been 
enlarged,  following  the  passage  on  June  27,  1918,  of  the  Smith- 
Sears  Act.  The  purpose  of  this  Act  was  to  promote  the  voca- 
tional rehabilitation  and  return  to  civil  life  of  disabled  persons 
discharged  from  the  military  or  naval  forces  of  the  United 


433772 


vi  EXPLANATORY    NOTE 

States,  and  subsequently,  in  the  current  year,  to  execute  the  In- 
dustrial Rehabilitation  Bill.  It  has  been  considered  desirable, 
therefore,  to  provide  inclusion  in  the  bibliography  and  reprints 
of  a  limited  amount  of  material  on  these  new,  doubtless  to 
be  increasingly  important  to  the  growing  social  consciousness, 
aspects  of  Vocational  Education. 

JULIA  E.  JOHNSEN. 
November  16,  1920. 


CONTENTS 

BIBLIOGRAPHY    xi 

INTRODUCTION    I 

PHASES  OF  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  FOR  YOUTH 

Home,  H.  H.    Cultural  and  Vocational  Education 

School  and   Society         5 

Williams,  L.  A.    The  Reliance  of  Democracy 

Educational   Monthly      1 1 

Branson,   E.   C.    The  Progressive  School :   Its  Relation  to 

Community   Industrial   Life Educational   Monthly       17 

Elliott,  Edward  C.    Securing  Equality  of  Opportunity 

National  Education  Association.    Proceedings       20 

Davenport,  Eugene.    A  Phase  of  the  Problem  of  Universal 

Education.  National  Education  Association.  Proceedings      23 

King,  Bertha  Pratt.    Vocational  Education  for  Girls 34 

Dooley,  L.  H.   The  Abstract-minded  and  the  Motor-minded 

Child    35 

Davenport,  Eugene.  Federal  Aid  for  Vocational  Education  36 
Snedden,  David.  Federal  Aid  for  Vocational  Education  39 
Elliott,  Edward  C.  Federal  Aid  for  Vocational  Education  39 
Dyer,  Franklin  B.  Federal  Aid  for  Vocational  Education  39 
McVey,  Frank  L.  Federal  Aid  for  Vocational  Education  42 

INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION 

Addams,  Jane.     The  Spirit  of  Youth  and  Industry 43 

Beach,  Walter  G.  The  Danger  of  Unskill 

Popular  Science  Monthly  52 

Dewey,  John.  Need  of  an  Industrial  Education  in  an  In- 
dustrial Democracy  

Manual  Training  and  Vocational  Education  61 

Three  Stages  in  Industrial  Education  

Manual  Training  and  Vocational  Education  67 

Schneider,  Herman.  Work  as  Related  to  Modern  Indus- 
trial Conditions  68 

Hanus,  Paul  H.    Industrial  Education Atlantic  Monthly      73 


viii  CONTENTS 

Henderson,  Ernest  N.  Psychological  and  Social  Need  for 

Constructive  Hand  Work  

National  Education  Association.  Proceedings  80 

Dooley,  William  H.    Special  Need  of  the  Ne'er-do-well 91 

Leavitt,  F.  M.  Some  Sociological  Phrases  of  the  Movement 

for  Industrial  Education  

National  Education  Association.  Proceedings  94 

Rapeer,  Louis  W.  Industrial  Hygiene  and  Vocational  Edu- 
cation...  .National  Education  Association.  Proceedings  101 

Graves,  Frank  Pierrepont    Industrial  Education  Abroad..     106 

Woolman,  Mary  Schenck.  New  Requirements  Made  by  the 
Trade  Schools  in 

Martin,  John.  Vocational  and  Occupational  Education  in 

New  York  City  Nation  1 16 

Fuller,  H.  de  W.  The  Gary  System :  A  Summary  and  a 

Criticism  Nation  122 

Scott,  Mary  H.  A  Girl's  Trade  School  Course  in  Dress- 
making  Journal  of  Home  Economics  128 

Williston,  Arthur  L.  How  Shall  Industrial  Education  Be 

Organized  to  Meet  Varying  Community  Needs 133 

McManus,  John  T.  Vocational  Training  in  Chicago  Schools 
School  Review  137 

Thompson,  Frank  V.  Problems  of  Industrial  Education 

Under  Public  Administration  145 

Snedden,  David.    Vocational  Education New  Republic     157 

Meeker,  Royal.  Co-operation  of  Agencies 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy  161 

Gompers,  Samuel.  Industrial  Education  and  the  American 

Federation  of  Labor  

Manual  Training  and  Vocational  Education  161 

Henry,  Alice.    Industrial  Education  for  Girls 171 

Barnett,  George  E.  Trade  Agreements  and  Industrial  Edu- 
cation    175 

Dean,  A.  D.  The  Co-operative  System  of  Industrial  Train- 
ing  National  Education  Association.  Proceedings  187 

Cooley,  Edwin  G.  Continuation  Schools  

National  Education  Association.  Proceedings  194 

Harrison,  Frank.  Continuation  School  for  Children  of 
School  Age  School  and  Society  196 


CONTENTS  ix 

COMMERCIAL  EDUCATION 

Sheppard,  James  J.  The  Place  of  the  High  School  in  Com- 
mercial Education Journal  of  Political  Economy  208 

Farrington,  F.  E.  Secondary  Commercial  Schools  in  Ger- 
many    209 

Downey,  James  E.  Education  for  Business.  The  Boston 

High  School  of  Commerce  r 

Journal  of  Political  Economy  221 

AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

Cronwell,  A.   D.    Agriculture  Enlarges  Consciousness  and 

Helps  Adjustment 243 

McKeever,  W.  A.    General  Instruction  in  Agriculture....     243 
Waters,  Henry  J.    Agricultural  Education 

National  Education  Association.    Proceedings..     .243 

Dandeno,  J.  B.    Agricultural  High  Schools  in  Ontario.... 

Agricultural    Gazette    of    Canada     251 

Clark,  Florence.    Flathead  High  School,  Kalispel,  Montana 

Country   Gentleman    254 

Gibson,  E.   P.    Student  Creamery  at  Duluth  Central  High 

School    Hoard's    Dairyman    254 

Smith,  W.  H.    What  the  County  Agricultural  High  School 

Is  Doing  for  Mississippi  Boys  and  Girls 

Progressive  Farmer    259 

Stimson,  Rufus.   The  Massachusetts  Home  Project  Plan  of 

Vocational    Agricultural    Education School    Review    261 

HOUSEHOLD  ARTS 

Parkinson,  Mary.    A  Bavarian  School  of  Housekeeping... 

Nation    267 

Bruere,  Martha  Bensley.   Educating  the  Consumer. Outlook    269 
Hickok,  Mrs.  Harvey  M.    Business  of  Home-making 276 

VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE 

Gruenberg,  Benjamin  C.   The  First  Job Survey    285 

Leavitt,  Frank  M.    Vocational  Guidance ....  School  Review    286 
Wheatley,  W.  A.    Vocational  Information  for  Pupils  in  a 

Small  City  School  Review    288 

Thompson,  Frank  V.    Vocational  Guidance  in  Boston 

School  Review    293 


x  CONTENTS 

Lord,  E.  W.    The  Vocational  Counselor  

Annals  of  the  American  Academy. .     300 

Prosser,  C.  A.    The  Vocational  Survey  302 


SUPPLEMENTARY  MATERIAL  FOR  SECOND  EDITION 

Prosser,  C.  A.  War  work  in  Vocational  Education 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy  305 

Lange,  Alexis  F.  New  Wine  in  New  Bottles 

Manual  Training  311 

Dewey,  John.  Vocational  Education  in  the  Light  of  the 

World  War  314 

Bayliss,  Clara  Kern.     Educational  Awakening.     Education     317 

Gray,  Herbert  Branston.    Opportunity  School  at  Denver.  ...     320 

Dealey,  William  L.  Theoretical  Gary  

Pedagogical  Seminary  323 

Dean,  Arthur.     Point  of  View Manual  Training    326 

Schmidt,  H.  W.  Neglected  Opportunity  in  Elementary 

Schools  Educational  Review  327 

Bigelow,  Maurice  A.  Elements  of  Practical  Arts  for  Gen- 
eral Education Teachers'  College  Record  331 

Friedland,  Louis  S.  Bases  of  Labor  Education 

School  and  Society  336 

Bawden,  William  1\    Cooperative  Plan   33§ 

Anthony,  Willis  B.  Schooling  in  Service 

Industrial  Arts  Magazine  339 

Goodwin,  Elliot  H.  Is  There  Really  a  Profession  of  Busi- 
ness and  Can  We  Really  Train  for  It? 343 

Taylor,  W.  S.  Progress  in  Vocational  Agricultural  Edu- 
cation   Penn.  State  Farmer  345 

Murtland,  Cleo.  Part-time  Education  in  Household  Arts. 

Journal  of  Home  Economics  346 

Kelly,  Roy  Willmarth.  Harvard  Bureau  of  Vocational 

Guidance Harvard  Graduate  Magazine  348 

From  School  to  Work   Survey     353 

Lasher,  George  Starr.  Vocational  Study 

English  Journal  355 

Fisher,  R.  T.  Restoring  Cripples  to  the  Industrial  Ranks. 

..Current  Opinion  357 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

An    asterisk    (*)    preceding    a    reference    indicates    that    the    entire    article 
or  a  part  of  it  has  been  reprinted  in  this  volume. 

BIBLIOGRAPHIES 

Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  Public  Library.  Selected  list  of  books 
on  industrial  education.  1912. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Public  Library.  Choosing  a  vocation;  a  list 
of  books  and  references  on  vocational  choice,  guidance  and 
training,  in  the  Brooklyn  Public  Library.  1913. 

Columbus,  Ohio,  Public  School  Library.  Choosing  a  vocation; 
some  books  and  references  in  the  Columbus  public  school 
library  that  will  help  boys  and  girls  in  the  choice  of  a  voca- 
tion and  books  for  the  teacher,  pa.  Public  School  Library. 

IQI5- 

Davis,  Benjamin  Marshall.  Agricultural  education  in  the  public 
schools,  p.  132-59.  Bibliography,  with  development  of  agri- 
cultural education  in  the  public  schools. 

Dean,  Arthur  Davis.  The  worker  and  the  state;  a  study  of 
education  for  industrial  workers,  p.  345-55.  Century.  1910. 

Grand  Rapids  Public  Library.  Bibliography  on  vocational  guid- 
ance. 1911. 

Harvard  Bulletins  in  Education,  no.  4.  F.  '17.  Selected  critical 
bibliography  of  vocational  guidance.  John  M.  Brewer  and 
Roy  Willmarth  Kelly.  ;6p.  Harvard  University. 

Kansas  City,  Mo.,  Public  Library.  Reading  list  on  vocational 
education.  Public  Library,  Kansas  City,  Missouri.  1915. 

King,  Irving.     Social  aspects  of  education,    p.   172-6. 

Lapp,  John,  and  Mote,  Carl.    Bibliography,  in  Learning  to  earn. 

p.  381-9- 
Manual  Training  and  Vocational  Education.     17:372-6.    Ja.  '16. 

Bibliography  of  surveys  bearing  on  vocational  education. 

The  four  types  of  surveys  are  briefly  described  on  p.   372-4.     The  bib- 
liography, which  includes  articles  printed  up  to  October,   igis,  is  excellent. 

National  Education  Association.  Proceedings.  1910:766-74.  Se- 
lected bibliography  on  industrial  education. 


xii  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Richards,  Charles  R.  Selected  bibliography  on  industrial  edu- 
cation. Bull.  no.  2.  o.  p.  National  Society  for  the  Promotion 
of  Industrial  Education. 

School  Review.  26:58-64.  Ja.  '18.  Recent  literature  in  the  field 
of  vocational  education  and  guidance.  Frank  M.  Leavitt  and 
Margaret  Taylor. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1912,  no.  10.  p.  41-56. 
Bibliography  of  education  in  agriculture  and  home  economics. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1913,  no.  22.  Bib- 
liography of  industrial,  vocational  and  trade  education. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1919.  46:1-103. 
Bibliography  of  home  economics.  Carrie  Alberta  Lyford. 
150.  Supt.  of  doc. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  List  of  references  on 
vocational  education,  prepared  in  the  Library  Division,  Bu- 
reau of  Education.  June,  1914. 

United  States.  Commissioner  of  Labor.  Annual  Report  (25th), 
1910.  p.  521-39.  Industrial  education. 

United  States.  Library  of  Congress.  List  of  bibliographies  on 
vocational  education.  5p.  typewritten.  25c.  My.  13,  '18.  Pub- 
lic Affairs  Information  Service,  New  York. 

Vocational  Summary.  3:95-6-  O.  '20.  Current  bibliography: 
(on  vocational  education). 

AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

Bailey,  Liberty  Hyde.  Common  school  and  farming  in  his 
Training  of  farmers.  Century.  1909. 

Bailey,  Liberty  Hyde.  York  State  rural  problems.  Vol.  2,  Chap. 
XI,  XII,  XIII.  What  is  extension  work?  How  shall  we 
meet  the  demands  in  the  localities  for  instruction  in  agricul- 
ture? Boys  and  girls  contests'  clubs.  J.  B.  Lyon  Co, 
Albany,  N.  Y.  1915. 

!*Cron>vell,  A.  D.    Agriculture  and  life.    Lippincott.    1915. 

Davis,  Benjamin  Marshall.  Agricultural  education  in  the  public 
schools :  a  study  of  the  development  with  particular  reference 
to  the  agencies  concerned.  $i.  University  of  Chicago  Press. 
1912. 

Dexter,  Edwin  Grant.   History  of  education  in  the  United  States. 
p.  368-70.     Macmillan.    1904. 
Elementary   agriculture,    with   brief   on    agricultural    education. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xiii 

Draper,  Andrew  S.     American  education,    p.  291-6.     Farm  and 

the  school. 
Eggleston,  J.  D.,  and  Bruere,  R.  W.    Work  of  the  rural  school. 

pa.    $i.    Harper.    1913. 
Farmers'  Institutes  of  British  Columbia.     Annual  report,   1916. 

p.  65-74.  Agricultural  education.    L.  S.  Klinck. 
Indiana.    Department  of  Public   Instruction.     What  the  public 

schools  of  Indiana  are  doing  in  pre-vocational  agricultural 

work.     (Educational  Publications.   Bui.  no.  16;  vocat.  ser.  no. 

n.)     Indiana.    Department  of  Public  Instruction.    Indianap- 
olis.   1915. 
Indiana.     State  Board  of  Education.     Educational  bul.   no.  32. 

Supervised  home  project  and  club  work.     43p.   Indianapolis, 

Ind.  Feb.  1918. 
International    Harvester    Company    of    New    Jersey.      How    to 

vitalize  the  teaching  of  agriculture  in  the  rural  schools.    2ip. 

Harvester  Building,  Chicago,  111.    1917. 
*McKeever,  William  A.    General  instruction  in  agriculture;   in 

Farm  boys  and  girls,    p.  120-2.    Macmillan.    1912. 
Missouri.      State    Board    of    Education.     Vocational    education 

bulletin  no.   3.     Courses   of   study  in   vocational   agriculture 

and   vocational   home    economics.    45p.    Jefferson    City,    Mo. 

Sept.   I,  1918. 
National     Education     Association.      Proceedings.      1910:1094-8. 

The  place  of  agriculture  in  the  public  schools.   G.  F.  Warren. 

Reprinted  in  Leak.  Means  and  methods  of  agricultural  education, 
p.  119-21. 

"In  our  farm-management  investigations  we  have  incidentally  secured 
some  very  emphatic  figures  on  the  value  of  high  school  education  of 
farmers." 

National    Education    Association.      Proceedings.       1910:1098-9. 

In  what  schools  shall  secondary  agriculture  be  taught?     G. 

F.  Warren. 
National     Education     Association.      Proceedings.      1910:1103-7. 

Place  of  the  agricultural  high  school  in  the  system  of  public 

education. 
National  Education  Association.    Proceedings.    1914.    p.  898-905. 

The  federated  boys'  and  girls'  club  work.     O.  H.  Benson. 
^National    Education    Association.      Proceedings.       1915:193-9. 

Agricultural  education.     Henry  J.  Waters. 


xiv  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

National  Education  Association.  Proceedings.  1915:1144-53. 
School  credit  for  boys'  and  girls'  club  work  and  extension 
activities  in  agriculture  and  home  economics.  O.  H.  Benson. 

National  Education  Association.  1917 1603-13.  Results  achieved 
in  secondary  agriculture  and  methods  pursued  in  actual  prac- 
tice. H.  N.  Goddard. 

National  Education  Association.  1918.  283-5.  Home  project 
work  too  small — something  bigger  needed— a  substitute  in 
operation.  W.  S.  Welles. 

National  Education  Association.  1918.  287-91.  New  education 
in  agriculture  based  on  sound  pedagogy.  William  R.  Hart. 

Nearing,  Spott.  New  education.  264p  $1.25.  p.  170-93.  Vitaliz- 
ing rural  education,  p.  207-17.  Wide-awake  Sleep-eye.  Row. 
Peterson  &  Co.  1915. 

Nolan,  Aretas  W.  Teaching  of  agriculture.  277p.  *$i.3O. 
Houghton  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston.  1918. 

Oregon.  Department  of  Education.  State  manual  of  the  course 
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Stimson,  Rufus  W.  Vocational  agricultural  education  by  home 
projects.  468p.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York.  1919. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1913,  no.  6.  Agri- 
cultural instruction  in  high  schools.  C.  H.  Robison  and 
E.  B.  Jenks. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1913,  no.  14.  Agri- 
cultural instruction  in  secondary  schools :  papers  read  at  the 
third  annual  meeting  of  the  American  association  for  the 
advancement  of  agriculture. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1914,  no.  8.  p.  11-17. 
Massachusetts  home  project  plan  of  vocational  agricultural 
education. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1914,  no.  8  p.  22-48. 
Vocational  agricultural  education. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  1918.  44:1-40.  Agricul- 
tural education.  1916-1918.  C.  H.  Lane.  5c.  Supt.  of  doc. 

United  States.  Commissioner  of  Education.  1912.  v.  i.  p.  197- 
206.  Boys'  and  girls'  agricultural  clubs.  A.  C.  Monohan. 

United  States.  Commissioner  of  Education.  1912.  v.  I.  p.  267-9. 
Review  of  agricultural  education  in  high  schools,  1911-12. 

United  States.  Commissioner  of  Education.  1914.  v.  I.  p.  123-5. 
Agricultural  high  schools.  J.  L.  McBrien. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xv 

United  States.  Commissioner  of  Education.  1914.  v.  i.  p.  291- 
318.  Agricultural  education. 

Introduction    of    agriculture    into    curricula    of    United    States. 
Agricultural  education  at  meetings  of  the  year. 
Educational   work   of   the   Departments   of   Agriculture. 
Educational   work   of   the   office   of   experiment   stations. 

United  States.  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education.  Bui. 
13.  1-42.  Mr.  '18.  Agricultural  education;  organization  and 
administration.  Washington. 

United  States.     Federal  Board   for  Vocational  Education.    Bui. 
21.   1-41.    S.  '18.    Home  project  as  a  phase  of  agricultural 
education. 

Victoria  (Australia).  Journal  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture. 16:555-68.  S.  '16.  Agriculture  in  America.  A.  E.  V. 
Richardson. 

Waugh,  Frank  A.  Agricultural  College:  a  study  in  organiza- 
tion and  management  and  especially  in  problems  of  teach- 
ing. 26op.  Orange  Judd  Co.,  New  York.  1916. 

Magazine  References 

Agricultural  Gazette  of  Canada.    3 177-78.    School  fans. 

Agricultural  Gazette  of  Canada.  3:471.  My.  '16.  Teaching  of 
elementary  agriculture. 

*  Agricultural  Gazette  of  Canada.  3:1002-3.  N.  '16.  Agricultural 
high  schools  in  Ontario.  J.  B.  Dandeno. 

American  City.  (Town  and  County  edition)  16:134-8.  F.  '17, 
Agricultural  education  in  the  high  schools  of  New  York. 
State. 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  35:150-5.  Ja.  '10.  Need  for 
agricultural  education.  D.  Y.  Thomas. 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  59:51-64.  My.  '15.  Agricul- 
tural education  and  agricultural  prosperity.  A.  C.  True. 

^Country  Gentleman.  81:467.  F.  26  '16.  Frontier  high  schools; 
Flathead  high  school,  Kalispell,  Montana.  F.  L.  Clark. 

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Educational  Review.  49:147-67.  F.  '15.  Education  for  the  con- 
trol and  enjoyment  of  wealth.  Witt  Bowden. 

Elementary  School  Journal.  15 1476-90.  My.  '15.  Wisconsin 
continuation  schools.  H.  E.  Miles. 

Harper.  125:213-19.  Jl.  '12.  Dilemma  of  the  public  school. 
R.  W.  Bruere. 

Illustrated  World.  28:717-21.  Ja.  '18.  Training  the  millions. 
H.  Carroll  Alford. 

Illustrated  World  28:950-3.  F.  '18.  What  experts  say  about 
intensified  mechanical  training.  Charles  W.  Morey. 

Independent.  74:1229.  Je.  5,  '13.  Henrico  plan:  industrial  edu- 
cation in  the  colored  schools. 

Independent.  84:452.  D.  13,  '15.  The  Gary  school  plan,  both 
sides;  a  debate.  E.  M.  Phelps. 

At  the  end  of  the  outlines  is  a  list  of  the  best  references  on  the  Gary 
system   up   to   December,    1915. 

Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  6:45-52.  F.  '17.  Decade  of  indus- 
trial education  in  Wisconsin.  L.  D.  Harvey. 

Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  7:405-8.  N.  '18.  Possibilities  for 
evening  school  industrial  classes  under  the  Smith-Hughes 
act.  James  R.  Coxen. 

'•'Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  8:215-19.  Je.  '19.  Schooling  in 
service.  Willis  B.  Anthony. 

Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  9:45-50.  F.  '20.  Fostering  self- 
directive  ability  in  pupils.  D.  J.  MacDonald. 

Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  9:56-60,  91-6.  F.-Mr.  '20.  Graphic 
aids  in  analysis.  Clyde  A.  Bowman,  diags. 

Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  9:337-40.  S.  '20.  Industrial  educa- 
tion in  the  upper  grammar  grades  of  a  non-directly-vocational 
school.  Paul  E.  Klein. 

Industrial  Management.  57:103-4.  F.  '19.  U.  S.  training  serv- 
ice and  its  work.  Charles  T.  Clayton. 

Iron  Age.  95:1334-5.  Je.  17,  '15.  Works  apprentice  school  dis- 
continued. 

"The    per    capita    cost    of    the    graduate,    so    to    speak,    from    the    com- 
pany's   apprenticeship    school    was    an    important    item    in    the    decision    to 

discontinue    the    school." 

Journal  of  Education.  69:567-8.  My.  27,  '09.  Adaptation  of  the 
schools  to  industry  and  efficiency.  A.  S.  Draper. 

Journal  of  Education.  70:570-1.  D.  '09.  Industrial  education 
from  the  standpoint  of  organized  labor.  John  Golden. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xxxv 

Journal  of  Education.  82:123.  Ag.  19,  '16.  The  Ettinger  plan. 
W.  E.  Grady. 

Journal  of  Education.  92:171-2.  S.  2,  '20.  Vocational  respon- 
sibility. Enoch  A.  Bryan. 

Journal  of  Home  Economics.  4:515-23.  O.  '12.  Negro  indus- 
trial training  in  the  public  schools  of  Augusta,  Ga.  E.  G.  Holt. 

Journal  of  Home  Economics.  5:219-23.  Je.  '13.  Training  high 
school  girls  for  trade  work.  M.  W.  Willard. 

Journal  of  Home  Economics.  5 :  397-408.  D.  '13.  Preparation 
for  industrial  education.  M.  E.  Parker. 

Journal  of  Home  Economics.  8:10-13.  Ja.  '16.  Aims  and  work 
of  the  National  society  for  the  promotion  of  industrial  edu- 
cation. Cleo  Murtland. 

*Manual  Training.  7:156-7.  Ap.  '07.  Industrial  Education. 
Editorial. 

Manual  Training.    9:1-9.    O.   '07.    Relation  of  manual  training 
to  industrial  education.     C.  R.  Richards. 
Read  before   the   Western   Drawing  and  Manual   Training  Association, 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  May   10,   1907. 

Manual  Training.  11:97-107.  D.  '09.  Better  grammar  grade 
provision  for  the  vocational  needs  of  those  likely  to  enter 
industrial  pursuits.  Alvin  E.  Dodd. 

Manual  Training.  11:297-301.  Ap.  '10.  Elementary  schools  as 
a  factor  in  industrial  education.  H.  T.  Bailey. 

An   address   delivered   before   the   New   York   State   Teachers'    Associa- 
tion, Columbia  University,  Dec.   29,   1909. 

Manual  Training.    11:418-25.   Je.  '10.    Brief  history  of  industrial 

schools  in  Germany.    A.  Haese,  tr.  by  Bertha  Reed  Cofrman, 
Manual  Training.    13:193-204.    F.  '12.   What  can  the  high  school 

do  better  to  help  the  industries?     F.  D.  Crawshaw. 
^Manual  Training.    16:329-39.    F.  '15.    Industrial  education  and 

the   American   federation   of   labor.     Samuel   Gompers. 
Manual  Training.    17:14-28.    S.  '15.    Beginners  in  trade  schools. 

E.  E.  MacNary. 
Manual  Training.    17:305-7.    D.  '15.    Where  should  cooperation 

end?     Editorial  comment. 
Manual  Training.    17:409-14.    F.  '16.    The  need  of  an  industrial 

education  in  an  industrial  democracy.     John  Dewey. 
Manual  Training.    18:41-6.    O.   '16.    The  point  of  view.    Some 

pertinent  questions  concerning  industrial  courses  in  the  high 

schools.    F.  E.  Mathewson. 


xxxvi  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Manual  Training.  20:162-6.  Ja.  '19.  Attitude  of  organized  labor 
with  respect  to  industrial  education. 

Manual  Training.  21 139-40.  O.  '19.  Theodore  Roosevelt  and 
industrial  education.  Earl  Baldwin  Thomas. 

Manual  Training.  21:140-4,  181-6.  D.  '19.  Ja.  '20.  Industrial 
education  in  Argentina.  Harold  E.  Everley. 

Manual  Training.  21 :3Oi~5.  My.  '20.  Minimum  essentials  of 
a  course  of  science  in  a  machine  shop  vocational  school. 
Joseph  J.  Eaton. 

Metal  Worker.  82:760-1+.  D.  u,  '14.  Vocational  training  in 
French  cities.  F.  L.  Glynn. 

Metal  Worker.  88:350-3.  S.  21,  '17.  World  needs  an  army  of 
trained  workmen. 

Metal  Worker.  88:407-9.  O.  5,  '17.  Intensified  trade  school 
training.  Otto  Kothe. 

*Nation.  102:696-7.  Je.  29,  '16.  Vocational  occupational  edu- 
cation in  New  York  City.  John  Martin. 

Nation's  Business.  Vol.  3.  (Nov.  '15).  loc  per  copy.  Chamber 
of  Commerce  of  the  United  States  of  America,  Riggs  Build- 
ing, Washington,  D.  C. 

New  Republic.  2:71-3.  F.  20,  '15.  Industrial  education  a  wrong 
kind.  John  Dewey. 

New  Republic.  2:302-3.  Ap.  24,  '15.  Apprentices  to  the  school 
R.  S.  Bourne. 

*New  Republic.  3 :4O-2.  My.  15,  '15.  Vocational  education. 
David  Snedden. 

New  Republic.  3:191-2.  Je.  26,  '15.  Issue  in  vocational  educa- 
tion. 

Railway  Review.    62:316-19.    Mr.  2,  '18.    Mobilizing  intelligence 
— the  need  of  corporation   schools.     Norman  Collyer. 
Same  condensed.    Railway  Age.    64:419-21.    F.   22,   '18. 

Review  of  Reviews.  48:98-9.  Jl.  '13.  Cultural  value  of  indus- 
trial education. 

Review  of  Reviews.  50:206-11.  Ag.  '14.  Spread  of  industrial 
education.  Roy  Mason. 

*School  and  Society.  4:617-24.  O.  21,  '16.  Continuation  school 
for  children  of  school  age.  F.  Harrison, 

School  and  Society.  8:721-6.  D.  21,  '18.  General  or  composite 
industrial  school  in  the  city  of  less  than  twenty-five  thou- 
sand population. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  Xxxvii 

School  and  Society.    10:155-63.   Ag.  9,  '19.   Recent  developments 

in  industrial  training.     David  Rosenstein. 
*School   and    Society.      11:348-50.     Mr.   20,   '20.    Workers'   uni- 

versity of  the  International  ladies'  garment  workers*  union. 

Louis  S.  Friedland. 
School  and   Society.    11:571-5.    My.  15,   '20.    Function  of  part- 

time    continuation    schools.    Thomas   Wannington   Gosling. 
School    Review.     19:289-94.     My.    'n.     Industrial    education   in 

Cincinnati.     F.  B.  Dyer. 
School   Review.    22:666-72.    D.   '14.    Coordination  of  industrial 

studies    with    traditional    subjects    in    the   high    school    cur- 

riculum.    Charles   S.  Meek. 
School  Review.  27:285-97.    Ap.  '19.    Industrial  education  in  Il- 

linois under  the  Smith-Hughes  law.     E.  A.  Wreidt. 
School  Review.    27:285-97.    Ap.  '19.    Industrial  education  in  Il- 

linois under  the  Smith-Hughes  law.     E.  A.  Wreidt. 
Survey.     25:674-6.     Ja.   21,   'u.     Ranken   trades   school   at   St. 

Louis. 
Survey.    28:787-8.    S.   28,  '12.    Results  of  industrial  training  of 

the  negro. 

Excerpts  from  a  report  of  F.  P.  Chisholm. 

Survey.      29:870-1.      Mr.    22,    '13.       Industrial    education    and 

democracy. 
System.     31  :346-53-     Ap.    '17.     Making    sure    of    good   workers 

tomorrow.     Herbert  E.   Miles. 
Teachers  College  Record.    17:1-6.    Ja.  '16.    Elements  of  prac- 

tical  arts   for   general   education.     Maurice  A.    Bigelow. 

TRADE  SCHOOLS 

Connecticut.     Board   of   Education.     Trade   education   in   Con- 
necticut.    Connecticut  Board  of  Education.    Hartford,  Conn. 


National     Education     Association.      Proceedings.      1912:411-16. 

City  trade  school  an  important  instrumentality  for  improv- 

ing the  vocational  need  of  the  city  child.    C.  G.  Pearse. 
National     Education     Association.      Proceedings.      1914:614-18. 

Apprenticeship  and  continuation  schools  or  Milwaukee,  Wis- 

consin.    R.  L.   Cooley. 


xxxviii  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education. 
Bui.  13,  pt.  3.  Fitchburg  School. 

Prosser,  Charles  Allen.  Study  of  the  Boston  mechanic  arts  high 
school;  being  a  report  to  the  Boston  school  committee.  (Con- 
tributions to  education,  no.  74.)  $1.25.  Teachers  College, 
Columbia  University.  1915. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1913,  17:1-59.  Trade 
schools  for  girls  in  Worcester,  Mass. 

United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Bui.  215:1-269.  '17. 
Industrial  experience  of  trade-school  girls  in  Massachusetts. 

United  States.  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education.  Bui. 
no.  18.  Evening  industrial  schools.  55p.  S.  '18. 

Woolman,    Mary.      The    making   of    a   trade    school,    pa.     soc. 
Whitcomb  and  Barrows.    1910. 
Manhattan    Trade    school    for    girls. 

Magazine  References 

American  Machinist.  52: 1335-7.  Je.  24,  '20.  Real  school  shop 
for  boys.  Fred  H.  Colvin. 

American  Review  of  Reviews.  57:414-15.  Ap.  '18.  Printers' 
trade  school  in  New  York.  Waldo  Adler. 

Educational  Review.  30:178-88.  S.  '05.  Manhattan  trade  school 
for  girls.  M.  S.  Woolman. 

Elementary  School  Teacher.  10:209-19.  Ja.  '10.  Trade  schools 
in  London.  C.  W.  Kimmins. 

Hampton's  Magazine.  27:55-66.  Jl.  'n.  Keeping  the  children 
in  school:  the  successful  Gary,  Indiana,  experiment  of  giving 
school  children  the  kind  of  training  they  want.  R.  C.  Dorr. 

Journal  of  Education.  82:123.  Ag.  19,  '15.  The  Ettinger  plan. 
W.  E.  Grady. 

Literary  Digest.  48:613.  Mr.  21,  '14.  Efficient  industrial  educa- 
tion (at  Gary,  Ind.). 

Condensed  from  article  reprinted  in  American  Industries.   14:27-9.  Feb- 
ruary, 1914,  from  the  Hardware  Age. 

McClure's.   41 :6i-9.    S  '13.    Children  of  the  steel  kings  at  Gary. 

B.   J.   Hendrick. 
Manual    Training.      11:329-32.     Je.    '20.     Boston    continuation 

school.     Charles  A.   Bennett. 
^Nation.     102:698-9.    Je.  29,  '16.     Gary  system:  a  summary  and 

a  criticism.     H.   D.   Fuller. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xxxix 

Review   of   Reviews.     50:195-200.    Ag.   '14.    Public   school  that 

makes  for  industrial  efficiency:  Boston  girls'  high  school  of 

practical  arts.     B.  O.  Flower. 
School    Review.     19:289-94.     My.    'n.     Industrial    education    in 

Cincinnati.     F.  B.  Dyer. 
World's  Work.    21:14265-75.    Ap.  'n.    Half  time  at  school  and 

half  time  at  work.     F.  P.  Stockbridge. 

At   Cincinnati. 
World's  Work.   25  :695-8.    Ap.  '13.    Teaching  real  life  in  school. 

W.  B.  Anthony. 

Fitchburg  public  schools. 
World's   Work.    28:285-92.    Jl.    '14.     Training  new   leaders    for 

the  industrial  South.     W.  A.  Dyer. 

Shows   the   way  to   work  that   the   public   schools   might  do. 
World's    Work.     28:452-60.     Ag.    '14.     Whole-hearted    half  time 

school  and  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Baldwin  of  Charlotte,  N.  C,  who 

directs  it. 

A  private  school  whose  work  might  be  emulated  by  the  public  school. 

COOPERATION    OF   AGENCIES    FOR    INDUSTRIAL 
EDUCATION 

Miles,  Herbert  Edwin.  How  shall  the  obligation  to  provide  in- 
dustrial education  be  met?  The  viewpoint  of  the  manufac- 
turer and  the  employer,  by  H.  E.  Miles;  the  viewpoint  of 
organized  labor,  by  Frank  Duffey  (reprint).  Nat.  Soc.  for 
Promotion  of  Industry  ed.  1912. 

National  Education  Association.  Proceedings.  1907:1048-55. 
Trade  schools  and  trade  unions. 

*National    Education    Association.      Proceedings.      1910:612-16. 
Practical  system  for  general  training  in  industrial  education. 
A.  D.  Dean. 
The    discussion    is    limited    to    the    cooperative    system    of    industrial 

training. 

National    Society    for   the   Promotion   of    Industrial    Education. 
Bui.  20,  p.    134-43.    The   recognition  of   industrial  education 
for   apprentices  by  organized  labor.     Lewis  Gustafson. 
"I   shall   confine   myself   to  this  topic   only   so   far   as   it   relates   to   the 

Ranken    school     .      .     ." — Gustafson. 

National    Society   for   the   Promotion   of    Industrial   Education. 

Bui.  21,  p.  633-6.     A  final  word. 

"Any  comprehensive  scheme  of  industrial  education  like  Minneapolis 
to  be  efficient  and  enduring  must  command  the  respect  and  support  not 
only  of  employers  and  employes  individually,  but  of  organizations  of  em- 
ployers and  employe*." 


xl  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education. 
Bui.  21,  p.  672-7.  Trade  understandings  in  Report  of  the 
Minneapolis  Survey. 

National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education. 
Bui.  22,  p.  347-61.  Trade  agreements  and  industrial  education. 

Pan  American  Scientific  Congress.  Proceedings.  1915.  v.  4, 
p.  147-51.  Cooperation  between  public  schools  and  organiza- 
tions of  employers  and  employees  in  making  and  executing 
plans  for  industrial  education.  Arthur  Williams. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1917.  9:1-79.  Depart- 
ment-store education.  Helen  Rich  Norton.  I5c.  Supt.  of 
doc. 

Magazine    References 

Manual  Training.  20:267-71.  Ap.  '19.  Launching  part-time  co- 
operative education  on  a  large  scale.  Frank  M.  Leavitt. 

Manual  Training.  20:272-5.  Ap.  '19.  How  Rockford,  Illinois, 
is  meeting  the  industrial  education  problem.  U.  Roy  Sewrey. 

School  and  Society.  10:45-6.  Jl.  12,  '19.  Cooperative  courses 
in  commerce  at  the  University  of  Cincinnati. 

School  and  Society.  12:225.  S.  18,  '20.  New  York  cooperative 
school. 

VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 

Adams,  Thomas   Sewall,   and   Sumner,   H.   L.    Labor  problems. 

*$i.6o.    Chap.  XL    Macmillan.    1905. 

Addams,  Jane.    Newer  ideals  of  peace.    $1.25.    Macmillan.    1907. 
Association  of  American  Universities.     Journal  of  Proceedings. 

1917.  27-35.    Modern   trend   toward  vocational    education  in 

its  effect  upon  the  professional  and  non-professional  studies 

of    the   university;    with    discussion.     John    Dewey. 
Ayres,  Leonard  Porter.    Constant  and  variable  occupation  and 

their  bearing  on  problems   of   vocational  education.      (Pam. 

E.  139.)    5c.    Russell  Sage  Foundation.    1914. 
Ayres,    Leonard   Porter.      Laggards   in   our   schools.     Charities 

Publication   Committee,   New  York.     1909. 

Largely  reprinted  in  Bloomneld.     Readings  in  vocational  guidance. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  xli 

Bennett,  Charles  A.     Manual  arts.     n6p.     Manual  Arts  Press, 

Peoria,  111.    1917. 
Bloomfield,  Meyer,  ed.    Readings  in  vocational  guidance.    $2.25. 

Ginn.    1915. 

"A  practical  encyclopedia  of  the  subject."  —  A.  L.  A..  Booklist. 
Bloomfield,   Meyer.    Vocational  guidance  of  youth.     (Riverside 

educational   monographs.)     *6oc.    Houghton.     1911. 
Bloomfield,  Meyer.    Youth,  school  and  vocation.   *$i.25.    Hough- 

ton.    1915. 
Bobbitt,  Franklin.    Curriculum.    295p.  Chap.  7-10.    Training  for 

occupational  efficiency.     *$i.5o.     Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Bos- 

ton.   1918. 
Bourne,    Randolph.    Education   and   living.    236p.    $1.25.     Chap. 

21-5.     Century  Co.,   New  York.    1917. 
Butler,    Nicholas    Murray.     Meaning   of    Education.     Chap.    VI. 

Training   for  vocation   and    for   avocation.    $1.50.     Scribner. 


This  chapter  is  based  upon  an  article  written  for  the  New  York 
Times  Sept.  19,  1908. 

Canada.  Royal  commission  on  industrial  training  and  technical 
education.  Report,  pt.  3,  vol.  I  and  2;  pt.  4.  1913. 

Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement  of  Teaching.  Fed- 
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Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Refer- 
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Gives  the  majority  report  of  the  Referendum  committee  and  summary 
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Special  bulletin,  June  2,  '16.  Gives  detailed  statement  of  vote  by  the 
chambers  of  commerce  throughout  the  United  States. 

Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United  States.    Report  by  Com- 

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Report  of  the  Commission.    1914.    63d  Congress,  2d  session. 

House  Document  no.   1004. 

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Consumers'  League  of  Connecticut.  A  glance  at  some  European 
and  American  (vocational)  schools.  5oc.  Consumers' 
League,  36  Pearl  St.,  Boston.  1911. 


xlii  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Cooley,   Edwin   G.    Vocational  education:   Report  to  the  Com- 
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Davenport,  Eugene.    Education  for  efficiency.    $i.    Heath.    1909. 
Davis,  Jesse  Butterick.    Vocational  and  moral  guidance.    $1.25. 
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"His  suggestions  are  as  practical  as  they  are  friendly,  and  should  be 
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Dean,  Arthur  D.  Our  schools  in  wartime  —  and  after.  335P- 
$1.25.  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston.  1918. 

See  especially  Chap.  3,  The  field  for  industrial  and  trade  schools; 
Chap.  5,  The  opportunity  for  manual  and  household  arts;  Chap.  6,  The 
work  impulses  of  youth;  Chap.  9,  Reeducation  of  the  disabled. 

Dewey,  John,  and  Dewey,  Evelyn.  Schools  of  tomorrow.  Chaps. 
IX,  X,  XL  Industry  and  educational  readjustment;  Educa- 
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Emerson,  M.  I.   Evolution  of  the  educational  ideal.   Chap.  XIII. 

*$i.     (Riverside  text  books  in  education.)     Houghton.    1914. 
Farm  and  Trades  School.    Report  of  the  board  of  managers  of 

the  farm  and  trades  school,  Thompson's  Island.    1916. 

Gives    an    historical    summary    and   decription    of    its    work. 

Gibb,  Spencer  J.    Boy-  work;  exploitation  or  training?    223p.  T. 

Fisher  Unwin  Ltd.,   London.    1919. 
Gillette,    John    Morris.     Vocational    education.     $i.     American 

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Washington,  D.  C.    1914- 
^Graves,   Frank   Pierrepont.     History  of   education   in   modern 

times.    $1.10.    Macmillan.    1913. 
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Nisbet  &  Co.,  London. 
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Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  8:70-2.  F.  '19.  Seven  million  candi- 
dates for  training.  Charles  T.  Clayton. 

Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  8:293-7.  Ag.  '19.  What  and  why 
of  manual  training.  James  McKinney. 

Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  8:471-4.  D.  '19.  Getting  together 
of  education  and  industry.  James  McKinney. 

Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  9:175-80.  My  '20.  Problems  of  the 
continuation  school.  R.  L.  Cooley. 

Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  9:297-9.  Ag.  '20.  Vocational  de- 
partments in  high  schools  vs.  separate  vocational  schools. 
Stewart  Scrimshaw. 

Journal  of  Home  Economics.  11:493-7.  N.  '19.  Vocational 
training  for  girls.  Greta  Gray. 

Journal  of  Home  Economics.  12:127-9.  Mr.  '20.  Bill  to  amend 
the  act  to  provide  for  the  promotion  of  vocational  education. 

Journal  of  Political  Economy.  21 :243~54.  Mr.  '13.  Industrial 
training  and  placing  of  juveniles  in  England.  H.  Winefrid 
Jevons. 

McClure's.    41:46-57.     My.  '13.     Six  thousand  girls  at  school:  a 
training   for  womanhood.     Burton  J.  Hendrick. 
Washington   Irving  High   School. 

Manual  Training.  11:237-51.  F.  '10.  Suggested  standard  high 
school  courses  in  wood-turning,  pattern-making  and  foundry 
practice,  Ray  L.  Southworth. 

Manual  Training.  13:329-38.  Ap.  '12.  Vocational  consciousness 
in  manual  training.  A.  E.  Dodd. 

Manual  Training.  14:105-14.  D.  '12.  Future  of  the  manual 
training  high  school  in  vocational  education.  C.  B.  Howe. 

Manual  Training.     15 :89-iO9.     D.   '13.     Manual  and  vocational 
education.     John  W.  Curtis. 
Work   should   be   put   on   a   right   basis,   vocational,   grammar   and   high 

school  testing  home  instruction. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  liii 

Manual  Training.  16:529-36.  My.  '15.  Vocational  instruction 
in  the  high  school.  Herbert  G.  Lull. 

Based  on  a  vocational  survey  of  Bellingham,  Washington,  recently 
conducted  by  the  writer. 

Manual  Training.  17:1-5.  S.  '15.  The  boy  or  the  trade  as  an 
aim.  Ira  S.  Griffith. 

Paper  read  before  the  Western  Drawing  and  Manual  Training  Associa- 
tion, Chicago.  1915. 

Manual  Training.  17  :25i-p.  D.  '15.  Manual  training  and  vo- 
cational education  to  fit  millions  for  their  work.  The  Smith- 
Hughes  bill,  a  national  preparedness  plan  to  equip  this  coun- 
try for  holding  industrial  and  commercial  supremacy  in  the 
future.  Alvin  E.  Dodd. 

Same  article.  In  Nation's  Business.  a:p.  8-ip.  November,  1915, 
under  the  title  Training  for  industrial  life.  Also  printed  as  a  "separate" 
by  the  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education. 

Manual  Training.  17:377-8.  Ja.  '16.  Pennsylvania's  new  con- 
tinuation schools  and  employment  certificates.  W.  E.  Hackett. 

^Manual  Training.  17:379-80.  Ja.  '16.  Three  stages  in  indus- 
trial education.  Editorial  comment. 

*Manual  Training.  17:409-14.  F.  '16.  Need  of  an  industrial 
education  in  an  industrial  democracy.  John  Dewey. 

Manual  Training.  17:585-8.  Ap.  '16.  Is  prevocational  a  needed 
or  desirable  term?  F.  G.  Bonser. 

Manual  Training.  17:702-3.  My.  '16.  Prevocational — What's 
in  a  name?  James  McKinney. 

Manual  Training.  17:713-18.  My.  '16.  Vocational  Education 
Association  of  the  Middle  West. 

Manual  Training.  18:1-4.  S.  '16.  Vocational  education  in 
Massachusetts ;  some  achievements  and  some  prospects. 
David  Snedden. 

Manual  Training.  18  15-7.  S.  '16.  Cultural  phases  of  vocational 
training.  J.  N.  Indelkofer. 

Manual  Training.  18:180-3.  Ja.  '17.  Three  typical  methods  of 
teaching  the  manual  arts.  Charles  A.  Bennett. 

^Manual  Training.  19:9-12.  S.  '17.  New  wine  in  new  bottles. 
Alexis  F.  Lange. 

Manual  Training.  19:50-3.  O.  '17.  School  that  serves  the  com- 
munity. Edward  G.  Anderson. 

Manual  Training.  19:91-3.  N.  '17.  Community  service  and  vo- 
cational training.  Parker  B.  Pratt. 

Manual  Training.  20:227-31.  Mr.  '19.  True  relation  of  voca- 
tional and  general  education.  Andrew  F.  West. 


liv  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Manual  Training.  20:275-80.  Ap.  '19.  Young  worker  and  the 
part-time  school.  Owen  D.  Evans. 

Manual  Training.  20:305-9.  My.  '19.  Study  of  some  practical 
values  of  public  school  manual  training  in  thirty-six  cities 
of  Wisconsin.  Thomas  R.  Foulkes  and  Thomas  Diamond. 

Manual  Training.  21 :2O7-io.  F.  '20.  Difference  in  approach. 
David  F.  Prairie. 

Manual  Training.  21 :237~4O.  Air.  '20.  Intensive  plan  of  or- 
ganizing manual  arts  teaching.  Charles  A.  Bennett. 

Manual  Training.  21 :246-9.  Mr.  '20.  Progress  of  vocational 
education. 

^Manual  Training.  21 :3i6-i8.  My.  '20.  Point  of  view.  Arthur 
Dean. 

Manual  Training.  22:4-9.  Jl.  '20.  Intensive  program  for  the 
manual  arts.  Allen  D.  Backus. 

Monthly  Labor  Review.  10:963-6.  Ap.  '20.  Recent  development 
of  part-time  or  continuation  schools  in  the  United  States. 

Monthly  Labor  Review.  10:966-70.  Ap.  '20.  Vocational  train- 
ing for  women  in  industry. 

Nation.  100:493-4.  My.  6,  '15.  Vocationism  and  democratic 
education. 

Nature.  103:127-8.  Ap.  17,  '19.  Part-time  education  in  the 
United  States. 

New  Republic.  2:283-4.  Ap.  17,  '15.  Splitting  up  the  school 
system.  John  Dewey. 

New  Republic.  3:42-3.  My.  15,  '15.  Education  vs.  trade  train- 
ing; reply  to  Dr.  Snedden.  John  Dewey. 

New  Republic.  3:191-2.  Je.  26,  '15.  Issue  in  vocational  edu- 
cation. 

New  Republic.  10:63-5.  F.  17,  '17.  Policy  in  vocational  edu- 
cation. 

Outlook.  110:734-40.  Jl.  28,  '15.  A  vocational  school  a  hundred 
years  old.  H.  Addington  Bruce. 

Pedagogical  Seminary.  20:259-67.  Je.  '13.  Economic  reasons 
for  vocational  education.  J.  F.  Scott. 

^Pedagogical  Seminary.  23:269-82.  Je.  '16.  Theoretical  Gary. 
William  L.  Dealey. 

^Popular  Science  Monthly.  77:178-85.  Ag.  '10.  Danger  of 
unskill.  Walter  G.  Beach. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  Iv 

Public.  21  '.271-4.    Mr.  2,  '18.    Labor  and  education.     Arthur  JL 

Holden. 
Review  of  Reviews.    50:200-5.    Ag.  '14.   Training  city-bred  girls 

to  be  useful  women.     Washington  Irving  High   School. 
^School  and  Society.     3:300-4.     F.  26,  '16.     Cultural  and  voca- 
tional education.     H.  H.  Home. 

School  and  Society.     4:433-9.     S.   16,  '16.     Training  for   vaca- 
tion.    Elmer  A.  Bess. 

"The  beautiful  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  as  based  on  the  con- 
ception of  the  science  of  training  men,  rather  than  on  isolated  interviews, 
is  that  the  counsellor  could  remain  on  the  job  and  keep  up  a  program  of 
vocational  training  after  the  individual  has  selected  his  vocation." 

School   and    Society.    5:296-8.    Mr.    10,    '17.     Smith-Hughes   act 

for  the  promotion  of  vocational  education. 
School    and    Society.    8:102-5.     Jl.    27,    '18.     Smith-Hughes    act 

from  a   layman's   standpoint.     Paul  Kreuzpointner. 
School  and  Society.   8:181-7.    Ag.  17,  '18.    Why  should  the  gov- 
ernment train  for  foreign  service?     Glen  Levin  Swiggett. 
School  and  Society.    10:509-13.    N.  i,  '19.    Vocational  education 

as    a    preventive    of    juvenile    delinquency.      Arthur    Frank 

Payne. 
School  and  Society.    11:271-6.    Mr.  6,  '20.    Technical  education 

and  citizenship.    B.  W.   Bond,  Jr. 
School    and    Society.      11:280-4.      Mr.   6,    '20.     Theory   of   the 

vestibule  and  upgrading  vocational  school.  David  Snedden. 
School  and  Society.  11:501-2.  Ap.  24,  '20.  Unique  plan  in 

vocational  education.    W.  T.  Carrington. 
School   and    Society.     11:563-5.     My.   8,    '20.     Some   aspects    of 

vocational  training.     L.  B.  Mitchell. 
School  Review.     19:85-95.     F.   '11.     Relation  of  the  movement 

for  vocational  and  industrial  training  to   secondary  schools. 

F.   M.   Leavitt. 
School    Review.      19:454-65.      S.    '11.     Does    the   present   trend 

toward  vocational  education  threaten  liberal  culture?     E.  P. 

Cubberley.    p.  466-76.     R.  A.  Woods,     p.  477-88.    Discussion. 

Presented  at  the  meeting  of  the  Harvard  Teachers'  Association. 
March  4,  1911. 

School    Review.     23:145-58.     Mr.    '15.     Vocational   training   in 

Chicago  schools.     J.  T.  McManis. 
School  Review.    25:682-3.    N.  '17.    Smith-Hughes  bill  goes  into 

operation. 


Ivi  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

South    Atlantic    Quarterly.     16:209-21.     Jl.    '17.     Manual    labor 

schools  in  the   south.     Edgar  W.  Knight. 
Survey.     30:407.    Je.  21,  '13.     Revolution  in  school  control.     E. 

H.  Fish. 
Survey.    30:722-3.     S.  13,  '13.     Vocational  schools.   Paul  Kreuz- 

pointner. 
Survey.     32:417-18.     Jl.    18,    '14.     Plan   to   stimulate   vocational 

education  in  all  the  states.     W.  D.  Lane. 

Survey.  35:692.  Mr.  n,  '16.  Federal  plan  for  vocational  edu- 
cation. 

Same  article.     In  School  and  Society.     3:428-9.     March   18,   1916. 
Survey.    38:18-19.    Ap.  7,  '17.    Learning  for  earning  or  for  life. 

Winthrop  D.  Lane. 
Vocational  Summary.     Published  monthly  by  the  Federal  Board 

for  Vocational  Education,    v.  I,  My.  'i8-date. 
World's  Work.     22:14721-5.     Ag.  'H.     Practical  public  school; 

vocational  school  at  Albany.     F.  L.  Glynn. 
World's  Work.    25:695-8.     Ap.  '13.    Teaching  real  life  in  school 

W.  B.  Anthony. 

Fitchburg  public  schools. 
World's   Work.     28:452-60.     Ag.    '14.     Wholehearted   half-time 

school  and  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Baldwin  of  Charlotte,  N.  C.,  who 

directs  it.     W.  A.  Dyer. 

A  private  school   whose  work  might  be   emulated  by  the  public   school. 

VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE 

Bennett,  Helen  M.  Women  and  work;  the  economic  value  of 
college  training.  287p.  *$i.5O.  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 
1917. 

Brewer,  John  M.  Vocational  guidance  movement;  its  problems 
and  possibilities.  333?.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York.  1918. 

Giles,  Frederick  Mayor  and  Kean,  Imogene.  Vocational  civics; 
a  study  of  occupations  as  a  background  for  the  consideration 
of  a  life  career.  252p.  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York.  1919. 

Gowin,  Enoch  Burton.  Occupations.  A  textbook  in  vocational 
guidance.  357P-  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston.  1916. 

Merton,  Holmes  W.  How  to  choose  the  right  vocation:  voca- 
tional self-measurement  based  upon  natural  abilities.  3O2p. 
*$i.5o.  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Co.,  New  York.  1917. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  Ivii 

National     Education    Association.  Proceedings.       1912:417-25. 

School  system  and  choice  of  vacation.     G :  P.  Knox. 

National     Education    Association.  Proceedings.       1912:713-18. 

Vocational  and  moral  guidance  thru  English  composition  in 

the  high  school.     J.  B.  Davis. 

Outline    of    course    at    Grand    Rapids  and    testimony    of    students    and 
teachers  concerning  it. 

National    Education    Association.       Proceedings.       1912:1267-73. 
Use  of  the  library  in  vocational  guidance.     J.  B.  Davis. 
"In   the    new   era    of   public    education   just   beginning   we   shall    expect 

the   library   to  take   its   proper   place    and   to    assume   full   responsibility   in 

helping    the    American    youth    to    find    a    life    of    true    happiness    and    real 

success." 

National  Education  Association.  Proceedings.  1913 :49-55- 
High  school  period  as  a  testing  time.  C.  D.  Kingsley. 

National  Education  Association.  Proceedings.  1915:331-5- 
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National  Educational  Association.  Proceedings.  1915 :9io-i3. 
Placement  bureau.  L.  G.  Dake. 

National  Education  Association.  Proceedings.  1917:432-6.  Vo- 
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National  Education  Association.  Proceedings.  1917:443-9.  Vo- 
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tion. Anna  Y.  Reed. 

National  Vocational  Guidance  Association.  Proceedings.  1915. 
W.  Carson  Ryan,  Jr.,  Sec.  Bureau  of  Education,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

Oberlin   College.     Bureau   of   Appointments.     Vocational   advice 
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Includes   letters   of    advice   on   many    professions. 

Parsons,  Frank.     Choosing  a  vocation.     $i.     Houghton.     1909. 

Reed,  Anna  Y.  Newsboy  service;  a  study  in  educational  and 
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United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1914,  14.  Vocational 
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United   States.     Bureau   of   Education.     Bui.    1914,   41.     School 
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U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  or  Supt.  of  Documents. 
The   first   part   of   this   bulletin    is   quite   technical.      Chapter   XI    is    on 

School  and  employment. 


Iviii  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1918.  19:1-28.  Vo- 
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United  States.  Bureau  of  Education.  1918,  24:1-51.  Vocational 
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Bibliography,    p.    102-31. 

United  States.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  Bui.  1917,  227:114- 
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Weaver,  Eli  Witmer,  ed.  Profitable  vocations  for  girls.  75c. 
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Weaver,  Eli  Witmer.  Wage-earning  occupations  of  boys  and 
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Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  8:339-42.  S.  '19.  What  Minneapolis 
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Ix  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Manual  Training.  17:336-42.  Ja.  '16.  How  can  the  faculty  of 
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Manual  Training.  18:65-7.  O.  '16.  Vocational  guidance  work 
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School  and   Society.    6:541-5.    N.    10,  '17.    Vocational   guidance 

through  the  life-career  class.     John  M.  Brewer. 
School  and  Society.    6:631-40.    D.   I,  '17.    Vocational   guidance 

in  the  technical  high  school,  Fall   River,  Massachusetts. 
School  and   Society.    8:640-4.    N.  30,  '18.    Vocational  guidance 

in  Boston.    I.  David  Cohen. 
School  and  Society.    11:407-8.    Ap.  3,  '20.    Vocational  guidance 

at  Dartmouth  College. 
School  and  Society.    11:511-17.    My.  i,  '20.    Need  for  vocational 

guidance  in  colleges.     John  M.  Brewer. 
^School   Review.     23:105-12.     F.   '15.     Vocational   guidance   in 

Boston.     Frank  V.   Thompson. 
*School   Review.     23:175-80.     Mr.  '15.     Vocational  information 

for  pupils  in  a  small  city  high  school.     W.  A.  Wheatley. 

Describes  the   course   given   at  Middleton,    Connecticut. 

^School  Review.  23:482-3.  S.  '15.  Vocational  guidance.  F.  M. 
Leavitt. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  Ixi 

School  Review.  23:687-96.  D.  '15.  School  phases  of  vocational 
guidance.  F.  M.  Leavitt. 

School  Review.    24:769-71.    D.  '16.    Vocational  guidance. 

School  Science  and  Mathematics.  20:105-12.  F.  '20.  Relation 
of  vocational  guidance  to  our  teaching  of  science  and  mathe- 
matics. A.  Y.  Reed. 

Scientific  American.  110:312+  Ap.  n,  '14.  Vocational  guid- 
ance and  efficiency:  How  boys  and  girls  are  started  aright  in 
life.  B.  C.  Gruenberg. 

Scientific  American.     112:247.     Mr.   13,  '15.    Educational  scrap 
heap  and  the  blind  alley  job.     L.  W.  Dooley. 
Condensed  from  same  article  in   Scientific  American   Supplement.     79: 

170-1.     March    13,    1915. 

Scientific  American  Supplement.  79 '275-  My.  I,  '15.  Why  vo- 
cational guidance?  B.  C.  Gruenberg. 

Scribner's  Magazine.  61 :626-3O.  My.  '17.  Young  man  and 
America's  opportunity.  Irwin  G.  Jennings. 

Survey.  30:183-8.  My.  '13.  Vocational  counselor  in  action. 
M.  Bloomfield  and  L.  F.  Wentworth. 

Survey.  36:330-1.  Je.  24,  '16.  Selecting  men  for  jobs;  Dean 
Schneider's  appraisal  of  various  methods  in  vocational  guid- 
ance. 

Testing  of  tests  gives  negative  results  in  Cincinnati  School  of  Engineer- 
ing. Abstract  of  article  which  was  published  in  the  Engineering  Magazine 

June,   1916. 

Survey.  37:122-5.  N.  4,  '16.  Mind  of  a  boy:  the  future  ex- 
perimental psychology  in  vocational  guidance.  Helen  Thomp- 
son Woolley. 

Believes  Dean  Herman  Schneider's  lack  of  success  is  only  in  field  of 
testing  different  kinds  of  ability  of  same  level  and  that  of  selected  indi- 
viduals. 

*Survey.    37:370.     D.  30,  '16.     First  job.    Benjamin   C.  Gruen- 
berg. 
*Survey.    43:745-6.    Mr.    13,   '20.    From   school  to   work. 

VOCATIONAL  SURVEYS 

Aldred,  J.  E.,  and  Ilmer,  E.  V.    Industrial  survey  of  Baltimore, 

1914.   Advisory  Survey  Committee,  Jacob  H.  Hollander,  John 

R.  Bland,  Frederick  W.  Wood. 
Cincinnati.      Chamber    of    Commerce.    The   vocational    survey: 

scope   and  method   in   Industrial   survey — Vocational   section 

the  printing  trade,     p.   13-14. 


Ixii  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Indiana.  State  Board  of  Education.  Bui.  15.  D.  i,  '16.  Report 
of  the  Richmond,  Indiana,  survey  for  vocational  education. 
599p.  Indianapolis. 

Indiana.    State  Board  of  Education.    Bui.  19.  Ja.  i,  '17.    Report 
of  the  Evansville,  Indiana,   survey  for  vocational  education. 
Charles   H.   Winslow.     Slop.     Indianapolis. 
Indiana.    State  Board  of   Education.    Bui.  20.    Ja.   i,  '17.    Re- 
port of  the  Jefferson    county   survey   for  vocational    educa- 
tion.   4OOp.    Indianapolis. 
Manual   Training.     17:457-61,  549-52,  624-8,   704-7.     F.-My.  '16. 

Educational  survey  of  Cleveland.     W.  E.  Roberts. 
National   Society    for   the   Promotion   of    Industrial   Education. 
Proceedings.     1914:45-61.     Bui.  20.     The  Richmond  Survey. 
Organization   of   the   survey,   C.   A.   Prosser.     Methods   and 
findings  of  the  industrial   survey,   Charles   H.   Winslow. 
National    Society   for  the   Promotion   of   Industrial   Education. 
Proceedings.     1914:65-97.     Bui.  20.     Recommendations  of  the 
(Richmond)   survey  committee. 

As  to  the  problem  of  financing  vocational  education  in  the  city  of 
Richmond.  M.  P.  Shawleey:  As  to  compulsory  attendance  as  a  factor  in 
a  program  of  industrial  education.  P.  P.  Claxton.  As  to  the  Types  of 
schools  and  courses  of  study  for  boys  and  men  determined  by  the  findings 
of  the  Industrial  Survey:  A.  D.  Dean.  As  to  types  of  schools  and 
courses  of  study  for  girls  and  women  as  determined  by  the  findings  of  the 
industrial  survey.  Mary  Schenck  Woolman.  As  to  Prevocational  train- 
ing. R.  W.  Selvidge.  As  to  the  place  of  private  institutions  receiving 
city  moneys  in  the  general  plan.  Wm.  M.  Davidson. 

National    Society   for    the   Promotion   of    Industrial    Education. 

Proceedings.    1914:85-95.  Bui.  22.  Organization  and  methods 

of  the  survey.     C.  A.  Prosser. 
National    Society   for   the    Promotion   of    Industrial    Education. 

Report  of  the  Minneapolis  survey   for  vocational  education, 

Jan.  i,  1916.     (Bui.  no.  21.) 

"Report  of  investigation  made  a  few  years  ago  into  the  cases  of 
children  who  leave  school  before  completing  the  course,  paved  the  way  for 
this  later  report." 

United    States.     Bureau   of   Education.     Bui.    1915,   37.     Some 

foreign  educational  surveys.     James  Mahoney. 
United   States.     Bureau   of   Labor.     Bui.    162.     (Misc.    ser.   no. 

7)  :i-i33-  >][5-  Vocational  education  survey  of  Richmond,  Va. 
United  States.  Commission  of  Education.  Report,  1915,  i  :433- 

92.     School  surveys.     E.  F.  Bucher. 

Brief  accounts  of  surveys  and  a  summary  giving  the  cost  of  surveys, 
by  whom  carried  on,  and  size  of  published  reports. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  Ixiii 

United  States.    Department  of  Labor.     Bureau  of  Labor  Statis- 
tics.    Study  of  the  dress  and  waist  industry  for  the  purpose 
of  industrial  education. 
Reprint   of   Appendix    i.      Bulletin    of   the   United    States.      Bureau    of 

Labor   Statistics,  no.   145,  Ap.   10,   '14.     Washington  Govt,   Printing  Office. 


RE-EDUCATION  OF  THE  DISABLED 

Barton,  George  Edward.  Re-education;  an  analysis  of  the  insti- 
tutional system  of  the  United  States.  HQp.  Houghton  Mif- 
flin  Co.,  Boston.  1917. 

De  Paeuw,  Leon.  Vocational  re-education  of  maimed  soldiers 
translated  into  English  by  the  Baronne  Moncheur  and  Eliz- 
abeth Kemper  Parrott.  i88p.  *$i-5o.  Princeton  University 
Press,  Princeton.  1918. 

Federal  Board  of  Vocational  Education.  Bui.  15.  1-318.  My.  '18. 
Evolution  of  national  systems  of  vocational  reeducation  for 
disabled  soldiers  and  sailors.  Douglas  C.  McMurtrie.  Wash- 
ington. 

Harris,  Garrard.  Redemption  of  the  disabled.  3i8p.  *$2.  D.  Ap- 
pleton  &  Co.,  New  York.  1919. 

McMurtrie,  Douglas  C.  Disabled  soldier.  232p.  *$2.  Macmillan 
Co.,  New  York.  1919. 

Magazine   References 

Academy  of   Political   Science.     Proceedings.    8:291-8.    F.   '19. 

Restoration  of  disabled  soldiers  to  industrial  service.     Albert 

H.  Freiberg. 
American    Industries.     21:9-11.     S.    '20.     Five    hundred   million 

human  scrap  heap.     Dudley  M.   Holman. 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  80:40-2.    N.  '18.    Industrial 

training  for  the  wounded.     Francis   D.   Patterson. 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  80:117-22.    N.  '18.    Federal 

program  for  the  vocational  rehabilitation  of  disabled  soldiers 

and  sailors.     Charles  A.  Prosser. 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  80:123-30.  N.  '18.  Advan- 
tages of  national  auspices  of  re-education.  James  Phinney 

Munroe. 

Bellman.  23:403-7.  O.  13,  '17.  How  Canada  refits  her  disabled 
soldiers.  Aubrey  Fullerton. 


Ixiv  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Columbia  University  Quarterly.  21:15-26.  Ja.  '19.  Salvaging  of 
men.  David  Snedden. 

^Current  Opinion.  69:534-5.  O.  '20.  Restoring  cripples  to  the 
industrial  ranks.  R.  T.  Fisher. 

Educational  Review.  57:312-20.  Ap.  '19.  Training  for  disabled 
soldiers  and  sailors.  Arnold  Levitas. 

Forum.  60:572-8.  N.  '18.  Rebuilding  the  injured  soldier.  Hoke 
Smith. 

Illustrated  World.  30:545-9.  D.  '18.  Giving  the  cripple  a  chance 
to  work.  Stanley  W.  Todd. 

Independent.  104:8-9.  O.  2,  '20.  Remaking  men.  Uel  W.  Lam- 
kin. 

Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  7:325-30.  S.  '18.  Some  aspects  of 
rehabilitation  work  for  disabled  soldiers.  George  C.  Greener. 

Monthly  Labor  Review.  10:184-9.  Ja.  '20.  Minnesota  plan  for 
the  re-education  and  placement  of  cripples.  Oscar  M.  Sul- 
livan. 

Monthly  Labor  Review.  10:442-51.  F.  '20.  Training  and  place- 
ment of  disabled  ex-service  men  in  the  United  States. 

Review.    2:197.    F.  28,  '20.    Lamentable  failure. 

Scientific  American.  113:229.  S.  n,  '13.  Educating  invalid 
soldiers.  Alfred  Gradenwitz. 

South  Atlantic  Quarterly.  17:265-89.  O.  '18.  Returning  the  sol- 
diers to  civilian  life.  Chase  Going  Woodhouse. 

Survey.  38:1-10.  Ap.  7,  '17.  Canadian  city  in  wartime.  Paul 
U.  Kellogg. 

Survey.  38:566-9.  S.  29,  '17.  Inter-allied  conference  for  the 
study  of  professional  re-education  and  other  questions  affect- 
ing men  who  are  disabled  in  the  war. 

Survey.  39:105-10.  N.  3,  '17.  Crutches  into  plowshares.  Doug- 
las C.  McMurtrie. 

Survey.  40:162.  My  n,  '18.  Industrial  cripples  and  rehabili- 
tation. 

Survey.  40:179-83.  My.  18,  '18.  War's  crippled.  James  P.  Mun- 
roe. 

Survey.  43:637-8.  F.  28,  '20.  Three  hundred  thousand  dis- 
abled— 217  trained. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  Ixv 

Touchstone.  4:300-5,  346.  Ja.  '19.  Hero  and  the  crippled  sol- 
dier. Douglas  C.  McMurtrie. 

World's  Work.  36:427-32.  Ag.  '18.  Restoring  crippled  soldiers 
to  a  useful  life.  Thomas  Gregory. 


SELECTED  ARTICLES  ON 
VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 

INTRODUCTION 


Vocational  education  was  first  confined  to  the  learned  pro- 
fessions. A  recognition  of  the  benefits  derived  by  society  in  gen- 
eral from  the  calling  of  the  theologian,  doctor,  lawyer  and  the 
philosopher  or  teacher,  resulted  quite  naturally  in  the  spending 
of  public  funds  for  education  along  these  lines.  When  public 
elementary  and  high  schools  were  established  they  prepared 
students  for  the  higher  professional  schools  or  emphasized  cler- 
ical accomplishments. 

Special  education  for  business  was  begun  somewhat  more 
than  fifty  years  ago,  at  first  in  private  business  schools  and  col- 
leges, later  though  less  successfully  by  the  teaching  of  commer- 
cial subjects  in  the  public  schools.  Dissatisfaction  with  the  re- 
sults obtained  led,  toward  the  end  of  the  last  century,  to  the 
establishment  of  commercial  high  schools  which  were  more 
nearly  in  accordance  with  the  present  day  demand  for  vocational 
commercial  education. 

Agricultural  education  is  now  given  in  the  public  schools  and 
separate  agricultural  high  shchools  have  been  established  in  a 
number  of  states.  The  passage  of  the  Morrill  Act  of  1862  re- 
sulted in  a  large  fund  of  scientific  agricultural  knowledge,  much 
of  which  is  available  as  a  basis  for  subject  material  in  public 
school  agricultural  courses. 

Sewing  was  added  to  the  public  school  curriculum  at  an  early 
date,  both  for  recreation  and  as  an  accomplishment.  Little  else 
was  taught  in  the  household  arts  before  1870.  The  National  so- 
ciety of  sewing  schools  disbanded  in  1901,  having  accomplished  its 
object,  i.e.,  the  addition  of  the  domestic  arts  to  the  public  school 
curriculum. 

These  are  some  of  the  beginnings  in  vocational  education  in 


2  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

the  public  schools.  Unfortunately  they  benefited  the  small  pro- 
portion of  students  only  who  were  able  to  remain  in  school  past 
the  minimum  age  for  employment.  It  is  now  realized  that  the 
mass  of  pupils  leave  school  at  an  early  age  and  do  not  find  any 
later  means  of  self-development. 

Many  pupils  who  stopped  school  as  a  matter  of  course  before 
they  were  through  the  elementary  schools  were  of  racial  stock 
which  had  not  been  accustomed  to  "book-learning."  Many  of 
them  were  not  successful  in  the  type  of  work  which  the  school 
required.  In  the  narrow  round  of  deadening  activities  which  the 
worker  blindly  performs  at  the  behest  of  some  one  else  there  is 
none  of  the  satisfaction  which  the  professional  man  has,  and  the 
youth  who  has  gained  only  part  of  the  education  which  the  state 
thinks  necessary  for  an  intelligent  and  useful  citizen  of  a  de- 
mocracy, loses  the  little  knowledge  that  he  had. 

Because  the  avenues  of  happy  and  useful  living  are  now  al- 
most closed  to  these  workers  training  in  industries  and  trades  is 
being  offered  in  the  public  schools.  The  worker  is  given  a  chance 
to  see  his  work  in  perspective,  is  not  confined  in  his  knowledge 
to  the  one  minute  operation  to  which  the  modern  machine  often 
condemns  him,  and  often,  because  of  the  training  in  actual  bread- 
winning,  can  be  kept  in  school  past  the  economically  wasted 
years  from  14  to  16  without  getting  away  from  the  very  life 
which  he  will  eventually  live. 

Vocational  surveys  have  been  recognized  as  necessary  to  give 
full  knowledge  of  the  instruction  which  will  be  of  most  practical 
benefit  to  the  children  of  the  community.  Labor,  trade  and  busi- 
ness organizations  have  helped  to  gather  this  knowledge  and 
have  given  much  practical  advice  where  surveys  have  been  made. 

Vocational  guidance,  which  has  resulted  from  the  awakened 
conscience  of  the  community  in  regard  to  the  welfare  of  its 
youth,  gives  the  child  at  least  a  little  choice  in  occupation  even 
tho  he  may  have  to  begin  work  before  he  has  completed  his  rudi- 
mentary education,  and  the  few  hours  of  continuation  school 
which  he  may  get  will  do  much  toward  retaining  the  education 
already  gained  and  toward  seizing  the  opportunity  to  learn  more 
and  to  be  employed  in  better  work.  The  motor-minded  boy  who 
stays  in  school  or  goes  to  continuation  school  has  a  chance  to 
learn  a  skilled  trade  instead  of  having  to  take  the  first  avenue 
open  to  him  with  the  chance  of  finding  himself  in  some  "dead- 
end" occupation  after  he  is  too  old  to  learn  a  trade  easily.  Eli 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  3 

Weaver  in  New  York  City  and  Frank  Parsons  in  Boston  were 
two  men  who  made,  early  attempts  to  secure  systematic  informa- 
tion for  the  guidance  of  youth  in  obtaining  entrance  into  indus- 
try. 

For  the  last  ten  years  there  has  been  active  discussion  and 
promotion  of  vocational  and  especially  industrial  education  in 
the  public  schools.  The  bill  introduced  by  Senator  Page  was 
widely  discussed  but  failed  to  pass  each  time  it  came  up.  The 
Smith-Hughes  bill  for  the  promotion  of  vocational  education 
passed  in  the  last  session  of  Congress  and  many  states  whose 
legislatures  were  in  session  will  take  advantage  of  the  terms 
which  were  intended  to  promote  the  training  of  teachers  in 
vocational  subjects. 

April  10,  1917. 

EMILY  ROBISON. 


PHASES  OF  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 
FOR  YOUTH 

CULTURAL  AND  VOCATIONAL 
EDUCATION1 


The  situation  confronting  us  to-day  in  the  field  of  education 
and  life  is  one  calling  first  for  reflection  and  then  for  action. 
Vocational  education  is  too  commonly  regarded  as  aiming  at  in- 
dustrial success  instead  of  industrial  intelligence,  and  it  is  too 
commonly  pursued  without  adequate  scrutiny  of  its  relation  to 
other  forms  of  education  and  to  complete  living. 

But  what  is  complete  living?  And  in  what  relation  to  it  and 
to  each  other  do  cultural  and  vocational  education  stand? 

In  his  famous  essay,  with  the  grammatically  dubious  title: 
"What  Knowledge  Is  of  Most  Worth?"  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer 
says  in  a  familiar  passage: 

To  fit  us  for  complete  living  is  the  function  which  education  has  to 
discharge. 

This  is  a  good  statement  on  its  formal  side;  as  such  it  can 
be  accepted,  without  accepting,  however,  the  limited  content  as- 
signed by  Spencer  to  "complete  living,"  and  without  accepting 
the  scale  of  values  he  attaches  to  its  component  parts.  Let  us 
see. 

According  to  Spencer,  the  "activities"  of  the  complete  life 
are  (i)  direct  self-preservation,  which  is  instinctive;  (2)  in- 
direct self-preservation,  by  means  of  vocation;  (3)  the  family; 
(4)  the  state;  (5)  belles  lettres,  for  the  leisure  part  of  life.  This 
list  was  arranged  by  Spencer  in  order  of  decreasing  importance, 
for  the  reason  that  these  activities  seem  to  make  each  other 
successively  possible  in  this  order. 

Now  this  list  of  the  activities  of  complete  living  is  interesting 
because  of  both  what  it  omits  and  what  values  it  exemplifies. 
Contemplation  is  omitted,  though  Spencer  himself  was  a  phil- 

*By  H.  H.  Home.  School  and  Society.  3:300-4.  February  26,  1916. 


6  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

osopher.  And  religion  is  omitted — an  omission  in  keeping  with 
his  agnostic  philosophy,  and  illuminated  by  his  refusal  to  attend 
the  funeral  services  of  his  friend  Darwin  because  they  were  held 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  though  Spencer  was  ready  to  see  in  sci- 
ence "tacit  worship."  As  to  the  scale  of  values  of  the  elements 
admitted  to  the  list,  it  is  naively  naturalistic  to  attach  most  value 
to  an  instinct  shared  by  man  with  all  animals  and  least  value  to 
the  refinements  of  life  which  most  characterize  man  as  civilized 
and  cultured.  Nothing  in  Rousseau,  whom  Spencer  disclaimed 
having  read,  is  more  crass  or  specious  than  this.  A  philosopher 
of  evolution  should  be  the  last  to  hold  that  the  final  effect  in  a 
series  is  the  least  important  of  all,  unless  indeed  evolution  is  to 
be  progressive  in  content  but  recessive  in  value.  Spencer  raised 
a  good  question,  the  perennial  philosophic  question  in  one  form 
or  another — what  is  it  to  live  completely?  but  gave  a  poor  an- 
swer, not  only  because  he  omitted  reflection  and  spirituality,  but 
also  because  he  mistakenly  identified  the  scale  of  values  with  the 
order  of  facts. 

In  his  "Outlines  of  Educational  Doctrine,"  Herbart  raises  a 
similar  question  and  gives  a  wiser  answer.  His  question  is, 
what  are  the  "interests"  of  life?  He  answers:  (i)  science;  (2) 
philosophy;  (3)  art;  (4)  morality;  (5)  institutions;  (6)  re- 
ligion. Each  of  these  six  he  regards  as  essential;  the  first  three 
relate  mainly  to  nature;  the  second  three  mainly  to  man;  and 
the  second  group  Herbart  deems  more  valuable  than  the  first 
for  living  the  complete  human  life.  The  interests  of  morality, 
he  thinks,  outweigh  the  'interests  of  science.  People  who  feel 
most  keenly  in  our  day  that  the  moral  development  of  the  na- 
tions has  not  kept  pace  with  their  scientific  attainment  are  least 
likely  to  disagree  with  Herbart.  Man's  capacity  to  advance 
knowledge  has  far  outrun  his  ability  to  use  it  morally. 

That  these  six  interests  are  primary  in  human  life,  a  review 
of  man's  past  history  or  present  psychology  could  easily  show. 
But  is  Herbart's  list  complete?  He  omits  one  interest,  viz.,  vo- 
cation. This  he  did  because  he  was  discussing  a  many-sided 
culture,  not  a  narrowing  occupation.  So  Greek  antiquity  had  set 
culture  and  vocation  over  against  each  other;  so  did  Herbart, 
himself  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Greek  antiquity  by  his  mother. 
But  this  sharp  contrast  between  culture  and  vocation  is  itself 
now  antiquated,  or  ought  to  be.  Why? 

In  the  light  of  these  two  lists  and  the  comment  upon  them, 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  7 

we  ask  anew,  what  are  the  elements  of  complete  living?  and 
suggest  as  the  modern  acceptable  answer  these  six:  (i)  health, 
for  body  and  mind;  (2)  goodness,  both  social  and  individual; 
(3)  beauty,  including  love;  (4)  truth,  both  scientific  and  phil- 
osophic; (5)  vocation,  involving  skill;  and  (6)  religion.  With- 
out health,  effectiveness  at  every  point  is  handicapped.  Without 
goodness,  beauty  and  truth,  the  three  functions  of  the  soul — • 
initiative,  sensibility  and  docility,  as  Professor  Royce  names 
them,  inter-related  as  they  are — have  no  proper  objects.  Without 
vocation,  man's  practical  ability  is  unutilized,  at  great  economic 
waste,  and  also  his  whole  life  suffers  through  social  detachment. 
Without  religion,  the  whole  life  lacks  unity  and  inspiration.  No 
life  or  society  lacking  any  one  of  these  elements  can  be  regarded 
as  complete,  and  no  life  or  society  is  as  yet  in  full  possession  of 
all  of  them. 

Thus  vocation  is  one  element  in  complete  living,  reciprocally 
related  to  all  the  other  elements.  The  term  culture  may  be  con- 
veniently used  to  cover  these  other  elements,  including  even 
health,  in  so  far  as  it  is  not  a  natural  product,  but  is  won  by 
man's  knowledge  and  its  use.  There  is  historic  ground  for  such 
convenient  limitation  of  the  term  culture;  it  also  helps  to  make 
a  contrast;  but  there  is  a  deeper  sense  in  which  human  vocation 
is  itself  a  part  of  human  culture,  viz.,  in  the  sense  that  it  belongs 
to  what  man  has  added  to  nature.  And  our  education  is  to  fit 
us  to  live  completely.  From  this  standpoint  the  problem  is  evi- 
dently not  one  of  dispensing  with  either  culture  or  vocation  but 
of  their  right  adjustment. 

Before  suggesting  the  nature  of  this  adjustment,  let  us  con- 
sider more  carefully  these  contrasting  elements,  culture  and  vo- 
cation, in  complete  living.  Culture  is  man's  contribution  to 
natural  living,  is  man's  effort  to  dignify  the  animal  instinct  of 
self-preservation.  By  vocation  we  live,  by  culture  we  live  abun- 
dantly. Vocation  has  immediate,  culture  has  remote  ends.  Voca- 
tion is  a  limiting  occupation,  culture  is  an  unlimited  outlook. 
Vocation  looks  without,  culture  looks  within.  Vocation  is  work, 
culture  is  play;  not  idleness,  but  the  play  of  the  body  in  recrea- 
tion, the  play  of  the  imagination  in  forming  scientific  hypotheses, 
in  energy  of  contemplation,  as  Aristotle  said,  in  fashioning  the 
forms  of  art,  in  conceiving  human  progress,  and  in  worship. 
Vocation  is  the  bondage  of  necessity,  culture  is  the  yoke  of  free- 
dom. Vocation  binds  one  to  the  here  and  the  now,  culture  con- 


8  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

nects  one  with  the  there  and  the  then.  Vocation  is  pragmatic, 
culture  is  idealistic.  Vocation  is  narrow  utility,  culture  is  not 
inutility  but  broad  utility.  Vocation  is  primitive,  oriental  and 
Roman;  culture  is  Hellenic  and  Renaissance.  Vocation  is  a  son 
of  Martha,  culture  a  son  of  Mary.  Vocation  is  the  naturalism 
of  Rousseau,  culture  is  the  humanism  of  Fichte.  Vocation  is 
man  toiling,  culture  is  man  thinking  and  creating.  In  short, 
vocation  bakes  bread,  while  culture  makes  it  worth  while  that 
bread  should  be  baked. 

Now  a  contrast  really  reveals  the  deeper  unity  of  the  two 
things  contrasted.  We  can  set  vocation  and  culture  over  against 
each  other  because  they  each  belong  to  complete  living.  Nietzs- 
che said  truly,  "Man  is  the  valuing  animal."  It  is  doubtless 
culture  that  gives  value  to  vocation,  but  it  is  also  true  that  vo- 
cation makes  culture  possible.  Without  vocation,  no  survival  of 
culture;  without  culture,  but  little  value  in  vocation.  Ruskin 
says: 

Life  without  industry  is  guilt,  and  industry  without  art  is  brutality. 

Just  so,  culture  without  vocation  is  like  Nero  fiddling  while 
Rome  burns,  while  vocation  without  culture  is  like  the  peasants 
laboring  when  there's  no  Angelus  to  ring.  The  cultural  man 
without  a  vocation  is  a  social  parasite,  while  the  natural  man 
without  culture  is  a  slave  to  his  own  nature.  Thus  these  two 
opposite  interests,  culture  and  vocation,  are  really  one  in  the 
service  of  true  living. 

The  fruits  of  Greek  culture  grew  out  of  the  soil  of  human 
slavery.  But  the  movement  of  democracy  has  freed  the  slave 
from  work  and  freed  the  master  from  play.  Both  master  and 
slave  require  both  culture  and  vocation  for  the  fully  human  life. 
Democracy  tends  to  remove  the  barriers  between  the  cultured 
aristocracy  and  the  laboring  masses.  We  no  longer  regard  work 
as  menial,  and  the  idle  rich  suffer  social  disesteem.  In  his  ora- 
tion on  "The  American  Scholar,"  Emerson  says : 

There  is  virtue  yet  in  the  hoe  and  the  spade,  for  learned  as  well  as  for 
unlearned  hands. 

Culture  and  vocation  are  opposites,  but  not  contradictories ; 
on  the  contrary,  both  are  true,  and  render  each  other  mutual  aid 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  9 

and  comfort.  A  man's  work  provides  motive  for  maintaining 
his  health,  occupies  and  more  or  less  cultivates  his  mind,  devel- 
ops his  character  and  brings  him  possibly  into  the  sense  of  kin- 
ship with  the  creative  God  in  whom  his  religion  probably  teaches 
him  to  believe.  A  man's  culture,  on  the  other  hand,  enables  him 
to  enjoy  his  work,  understand  its  place  and  service  in  society, 
and  use  it  as  a  mode  of  self-expression. 

We  conclude,  then,  on  the  relation  of  culture  and  vocation, 
that  they  are,  or  should  be,  different  aspects  of  the  one  process 
of  complete  living,  and  that  one  and  the  same  individual  requires 
both  to  realize  his  selfhood.  Thinking  and  doing  are  not  two 
things,  but  one  thing.  Wundt  and  Royce  have  shown  us  this 
truth  in  psychology.  A  cultivated  and  skilled  democracy  should 
show  us  its  truth  in  society.  Complete  living,  individually  and 
socially,  is  a  complex  unity,  and  to  live  completely  is,  of  course, 
man's  most  difficult  art. 

How  then  shall  we  adjust  the  claims  of  cultural  and  voca- 
tional education?  In  the  light  of  the  foregoing,  the  theoretical 
solution  is  not  difficult;  its  practical  accomplishment  is  the  diffi- 
cult thing.  The  education  that  fits  us  for  complete  living,  nay, 
that  exemplifies  complete  living  while  we  are  being  educated  is 
both  cultural  and  vocational.  Our  education  shall  help  us  to 
make  a  living,  it  shall  also  help  us  to  make  a  life.  Education  is 
to  acquaint  us  with  the  tools  and  content  of  culture,  making  us 
appreciative,  and,  in  a  measure,  productive,  participants  therein; 
and  also  to  develop  our  skill  in  accord  with  our  talent,  making 
us  profitable  servants  of  society.  Cultural  education  increases 
cubical  living,  vocational  education  increases  social  service,  whose 
marketable  value  is  but  a  means  to  an  end.  We  are  to  be  made 
men  first,  then  workmen;  we  are  to  be  humanized,  then  voca- 
tionalized.  Of  all  vocations,  that  of  the  soldier  alone  makes  war 
on  culture  and  can  not  be  humanized. 

Now  parenthood  can  be  vocationalized,  but  not  infancy,  for 
the  infant's  productive  skill  is  not  yet  available.  Even  adoles- 
cence can  be  vocationalized  in  a  measure,  but  not  childhood,  for 
the  child's  talents  are  not  yet  known,  and  can  not  be  till  adoles- 
cence brings  them  out.  In  an  ideal  arrangement  we  should 
have  cultural  education  until  at  least  the  natural  talents  are 
revealed,  that  is,  through  the  period  of  secondary  education, 
after  which  education  should  be  vocational.  Before  this  time 
education  can  not  be  profitably  vocational,  for  no  expert  in  the 


10  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

field  of  vocational  guidance  can  tell  what  a  child  can  or  should 
do  as  an  adult. 

But  once  again,  as  Cleveland  might  remind  us,  it  is  a  condi- 
tion, not  a  theory,  that  confronts  us.  Five  states  in  the  union 
still  have  no  compulsory  education  laws  whatever.  Those  states 
having  such  laws  usually  set  fourteen  instead  of  eighteen  as  the 
upper  age  limit.  Boys  and  girls  leaving  school  at  this  age  under 
some  actual  or  fancied  necessity  find  no  employment  under  ex- 
isting factory  laws  or  poor  employment,  neither  developing  nor 
promotive.  Such  conditions,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  gradually 
pass.  Only  as  a  temporary  concession  to  such  conditions  is  there 
justification  for  vocational  training  for  early  adolescence  and 
pre-vocational  schools  for  later  childhood.  Such  work  as  at 
present  organized  is  half  against  nature,  being  premature,  and 
half  against  reason,  allowing  inadequate  time  for  the  assumption 
of  culture,  the  right  in  a  democracy  of  every  member  of  society. 

But  the  cultural  curriculum  of  lower  and  secondary  schools 
should  recognize  vocation  as  one  of  the  essential  elements  in 
civilization,  as  it  has  not  hitherto  done.  Such  recognition  in- 
volves learning  by  doing  as  a  method,  and  a  study  of  the  oc- 
cupations of  man  as  content.  History  particularly  should  include 
the  record  of  human  achievement  in  times  of  peace.  Such  edu- 
cation, though  not  utilizing  the  vocational  motive,  would  promote 
vocational  intelligence.  And  it  is  more  intelligence,  not  more 
"efficiency,"  that  the  workers  of  the  world  need. 

A  vocational  college,  half  culture  and  half  vocation,  is  noth- 
ing against  nature ;  it  may  also  be  nothing  against  reason,  if  the 
preceding  years  have  been  wisely  utilized  in  laying  the  broad 
foundations  of  culture. 

A  professional  institution  building  vocational  skill  on 
collegiate  culture  has  the  best  warrant,  from  both  nature  and 
reason,  for  its  existence. 

In  sum,  mankind  requires  a  vocational  education  that  is  cul- 
tural at  the  bottom  and  a  cultural  education  that  is  vocational 
at  the  top.  We  need  agricultural,  industrial,  commercial  and 
professional  intelligence,  and  we  need  healthful,  scientific,  es- 
thetic, moral  and  spiritual  skill.  We  want  neither  dumb  toilers 
nor  exclusive  culturists.  Culture  shall  drop  down  from  heaven, 
and  vocation  shall  spring  up  from  the  earth.  Vocation  shall  be 
the  application  of  culture,  and  culture  shall  be  the  halo  of  voca- 
jtion. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  n 

In    his    poem    entitled:    "A    Grammarian's    Funeral    shortly 
after  the  Revival  of  Learning  in  Europe,"  Browning  says : 

Oh,   if  we  draw   a  circle  premature, 

Heedless   of   far   gain, 
Greedy  for  quick  returns  of  profit,  sure 

Bad    is   our   bargain! 


THE  RELIANCE  OF  DEMOCRACY1 

Time  was,  in  the  history  of  nations,  when  one  individual  was 
set  over  against  another  as  of  more  worth,  as  being  more  noble, 
and  hence  more  powerful.  It  was  not  a  question  of  attaining 
this  greater  nobility  or  worthiness  but  merely  a  question  of 
being  born  with  a  so-called  finer  and  better  strain  of  blood  in 
one's  veins. 

But  in  a  democracy  this  cannot  be.  The  question  which 
every  man  must  answer  in  a  republic  is  not,  "Who  was  your 
father?"  but  is  rather  "What  can  you  do?  Will  you  do  it?"  No 
longer  can  a  man  live  on  the  deeds  of  his  ancestors.  To  have 
had  good,  and  true  ancestors,  as  well,  is  a  mighty  asset;  but 
to  be  good,  and  true,  and  noble,  one's  own  self  without  regard 
to  one's  forefathers,  is  of  infinitely  greater  value  in  a  democracy. 

It  cannot,  of  course,  be  disputed  that  in  reality  we  are  not 
all  born  with  equal  capacities  and  endowments.  But  the  ancestry 
alone  cannot  determine  what  we  may  become.  As  Will  Carleton 
has  put  it — "Some  men  are  born  for  great  things,  and  some  are 
born  for  small ;  with  some  it  is  not  recorded  why  they  were  born 
at  all."  There  may  be  an  aristocracy  and  a  middle  class;  there 
may  be  a  noble  and  a  peasant;  but  aristocracy  and  nobility  find 
their  places  no  less  in  the  lowly  cabin  and  squalid  tenement,  than 
in  the  stately  mansion  or  palatial  hall. 

How  may  a  democracy  develop  and  preserve  such  great  fig- 
ures in  her  national  life?  How  can  the  spirit  of  democracy,  of 
equality,  of  justice  for  all  be  preserved?  How  shall  just  laws 
be  framed,  interpreted  and  enforced  if  the  rank  and  file,  the 
rabble,  the  "hoi  polloi,"  are  to  be  allowed  a  voice  in  government? 
How  shall  democracy  survive,  what  shall  be  her  reliance? 

Those  great  and  fundamental  principles  upon  which  democ- 
racy and  the  republican  form  of  government  rest  are  in  them- 

1  By  L.  A.  Williams.  Educational  Monthly.  2:12-17.  January,  1916. 


12  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

selves  supported  by  a  principle  more  fundamental  than  they. 
Justice,  equality,  freedom,  depend  for  their  perpetuation  upon 
intelligence  and  knowledge.  The  ignorant  man  is  not  a  just  man, 
he  cannot  make  nor  can  he  enforce  or  interpret  laws  of  justice. 
The  illiterate  and  unlearned  man  knows  no  freedom  but  license, 
no  equality  except  that  brought  about  through  brute  strength. 
For  the  securing  of  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  to 
her  citizens  the  various  states  of  these  United  States  have  in- 
augurated and  perpetuated  a  system  of  free  public  schools.  In 
their  wisdom,  the  founders  of  our  nation  saw  the  necessity  for  a 
liberal  dispensation  of  learning  among  the  people  at  large.  With- 
out it  they  knew  democracy  could  not  live — they  knew  that  justice 
and  freedom  would  perish  from  among  us. 

Said  Jefferson  in  a  letter  to  the  Marquis  de  LaFayette,  "Ig- 
norance and  bigotry,  like  other  inanities  are  incapable  of  govern- 
ment." In  his  "Bill  for  the  Better  Diffusion  of  Knowledge"  he 
says,  "The  public  happiness  demands  that  a  people  who  wish  to 
enjoy  the  blessings  of  good  government  should  be  possessed  of  a 
considerable  amount  of  knowledge."  Thus  could  the  descendant 
of  a  long  line  of  noble  ancestry  see  the  desirability — even  more 
— the  necessity,  for  intelligence  and  knowledge  as  a  basis  for  the 
continuance  of  a  democracy.  The  leadership  of  a  few  is  not 
enough.  There  must  be  the  intelligent  and  understanding  co- 
operation of  all  or  the  Ship  of  State  must  fail  of  safe  refuge 
and  go  down  amidst  mutiny. 

Experience  has  proven  the  wisdom  of  an  intelligent  citizen- 
ship in  a  democracy. 

But  it  all  has  a  deeper  and  more  vital  significance.  What  is 
the  source  of  these  laws?  Whence  have  these  legislators  come? 
Are  they  all  sons  of  aristocratic  and  noble  lines  of  ancestry? 
From  mountain  cabin  and  fisherman's  hut,  from  the  home  of  the 
farmer  and  the  hut  of  the  lumberman,  have  they  come  no  less 
than  from  the  desk  of  the  business  man,  the  office  of  the  lawyer 
or  the  library  of  the  man  of  leisure.  Who  really  have  made  the 
laws?  Who  really  do  the  interpreting  and  enforcing?  It  is  not 
the  legislator,  judge  and  police.  It  is  the  people  back  on  the 
land,  in  the  office,  beside  the  loom,  upon  the  mountain  and  down 
in  the  valley.  These  others  are  but  delegates  who  are  carrying 
out  the  will  of  the  people;  the  people  make  the  laws,  enforce 
them  and  interpret  them.  Such  is  the  position  of  the  populace 
in  a  democracy. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  13 

What  then  does  it  mean?  Who  should  be  the  intelligent 
ones?  Who  should  be  educated?  There  can  be  but  one  answer — 
the  common,  every-day  man  of  the  state.  It  is  with  him  that  the 
demands  for  new  legislation  must  originate  and  it  is  he  who 
must  and  will  insist  on  his  demands  being  executed.  The  laws 
are  made  by  and  exist  for  the  man  at  home,  and  upon  him  rests 
the  responsibility  and  duty  of  providing  for  wise  and  efficient 
legislation.  The  ignorance  of  the  voter  who  sends  the  legislator 
to  the  capitol  blocks  the  way  to  intelligent  laws  and  statutes. 

It  is  not  enough  to  train  and  develop  a  few  great  leaders. 
To  be  sure,  leaders  must  be  trained  and  developed,  we  must 
have  great  souls  to  go  before  and  choose  the  way.  But  does 
such  a  truth  preclude  the  necessity  for  an  intelligent  following? 
Surely  not  in  a  democracy.  What  a  travesty  upon  the  quality 
of  our  leaders  to  think  they  would  prefer  an  ignorant,  illiterate, 
babbling,  unthinking  crowd  of  followers  to  an  army  of  educa- 
cated,  trained,  thoughtful,  intelligent  citizens.  It  is  an  insult  to 
our  leaders  to  place  them  at  the  head  of  anything  other  than  the 
very  be*t  trained  minds  and  intellects  of  our  state.  We  must 
build  up  an  educated  race  of  citizens  who  shall  wisely  and  justly 
carry  on  the  great  work  of  building  up  a  magnificent  and  power- 
ful commonwealth  which  shall  be  the  glory  of  her  citizens  and 
the  pride  of  the  nation,  that  the  fathers  who  have  gone  and  left 
us  the  inheritance  need  not  be  ashamed  of  the  use  to  which  we 
are  putting  their  heritage. 

How  can  it  be  done?  The  answer  is  simple.  By  the  free  pub- 
lic school.  All  about  us  are  the  boys  and  girls  of  today,  the 
men  and  women  of  tomorrow.  Here  is  the  material  put  to  our 
hands  for  the  moulding.  They  are  like  to  the  potter's  vessel,  we 
may  shape  them  as  we  will.  Here  we  have  the  citizens  of  the 
next  generation,  whose  making  is  in  our  hands.  What  are  we 
doing  for  them?  Think  what  a  wonderful  opportunity  is  put 
before  us.  To  us  is  given  the  privilege  of  formulating  the 
ideals,  the  principles  to  which  our  state,  our  nation,  shall  be 
committed  in  this  next  generation.  We  hold  in  our  hands  the 
possibilities  of  the  next  few  years  for  our  people.  As  we  make 
these  oncoming  citizens  intelligent,  honest,  upright,  far-seeing, 
clear-thinking — to  the  degree  will  our  state,  our  nation,  be  able 
to  take  its  place  among  the  peoples  of  the  world  as  the  exponent 
of  true  democracy,  freedom,  right  and  justice. 

So  you  see  it  is  more  than  a  privilege,  larger  than  oppor- 


14  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

tunity.  There  is  a  duty,  a  responsibility  that  goes  with  our 
opportunity.  The  problems  of  government  are  being  greatly 
complicated  as  our  nation  takes  on  size.  In  the  early  days  our 
manner  of  life  was  simple,  our  problems  of  government  were 
few.  Now  we  are  a  world  power,  we  have  a  place  among  the 
peoples  of  the  earth.  Our  internal  organization  is  increasing  in 
complexity  and  intricacy  as  we  evolve  our  industries,  build  up 
our  cities,  exploit  our  lands  and  take  into  our  midst  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  We  are  reaching  out  our  hands  over  the  world  and 
gathering  in  the  peoples  of  all  lands,  offering  to  them  a  place  of 
growth  and  development.  In  vast  hordes  they  are  coming  to  us 
daily  and  we  must  remake,  remold  and  refashion  their  social, 
political,  economic,  religious,  domestic  ideals.  Such  is  the  burden 
which  is  being  laid  upon  us  and  which  we  shall  pass  on  to  these 
boys  and  girls  of  today. 

To  handle  wisely  and  well,  with  justice  and  righteousness, 
these  immense  problems  we  must  build  upon  a  wise  and  intel- 
ligent body  of  citizens  who  know  the  right  and  fearlessly  go 
about  doing  it.  To  place  the  handling  of  these  great  problems 
of  government  in  the  hands  of  ignorant  citizens  would  be  noth- 
ing short  of  a  calamity.  A  burden  is  laid  upon  us  to  provide 
learning  and  education  for  all  the  children  of  this  generation 
that  they  may  be  in  a  position  to  handle  the  problems  of  govern- 
ment which  are  so  rapidly  increasing  in  complexity.  It  will  not 
be  enough  that  we  supply  an  education  to  the  few  but  we  must 
give  to  all  an  equal  and  even  share  of  an  education.  The  great 
questions  of  the  next  decade  will  come  before  the  leaders  but 
it  will  be  the  opinion,  attitude  and  will  of  their  constituents  which 
will  be  the  deciding  factor  in  the  settlement  of  these  questions. 

The  founders  of  our  nation  builded  better  than  they  knew. 
Deep  and  secure  they  placed  the  great  fundamental  laws  and 
principles  of  democracy.  Into  the  hands  of  the  people  at  large 
they  placed  the  power  to  act.  Then  to  perpetuate  a  surety  of 
justice  and  freedom  they  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  individual 
states  the  duty  of  educating  and  training  the  citizenry.  They 
solved  the  problems  they  had  to  face  and  then  paved  the  way  by 
which  the  newer,  larger  and  more  far-reaching  questions  might 
be  solved  by  committing  us  as  a  nation  to  the  principles  of  free 
education  for  all  the  people.  When  the  deeds  and  virtues  of  this 
generation  are  held  up  before  the  future  generations,  shall  they 
too  see  how  carefully,  wisely,  surely,  we  have  provided  a  way, 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  15 

a  means,  by  which  the  great  problems  they  are  to  encounter 
shall  be  met?  Are  we  sensible  of  the  duty  we  have?  Are  we 
performing  that  duty  to  the  best  of  our  ability?  Are  we  making 
our  boys  and  girls  intelligent? 

The  implication  of  all  this  is  not  to  provide  a  college  or 
university  education  of  all  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  state. 
Rather  it  implies  the  furnishing  of  a  very  different  sort  of  an 
education.  The  thought  which  has  been  back  of  all  this  discus- 
sion of  the  need  of  education  as  the  bulwark  of  democracy  is  of 
furnishing  a  training  along  intellectual  lines  which  will  be  closely 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  children  who  can  go  to  school  no 
more  than  up  to  the  age  of  fifteen  or  sixteen.  We  must  reshape 
our  ideals  as  to  the  type  of  education  we  are  to  furnish  our 
children.  We  must  find  some  way  of  providing  a  system  of 
intellectual  training  which  shall  have  an  appeal  to  the  boys  and 
girls  and  keep  them  eager  for  new  knowledge  and  receptive  to 
new  truths. 

This  new  education  must  set  up  several  new  lines  of  effort. 
In  the  first  place  we  must  provide  a  longer  school  year.  As  it 
is  now  a  boy  beginning  school  at  6  or  7  and  continuing  to  15  or 
16,  if  he  attends  all  the  time  schools  are  in  session  every  year 
according  to  law,  gets  a  little  over  4^2  years  of  school  life  (54 
mo.)  and  in  many  places  not  even  that  much.  Consider  what 
that  means.  We  are  providing  4^  years  of  education  for  the 
men,  who,  10  years  from  now,  will  be  making  our  laws,  handling 
our  immigrants,  settling  our  international  relationships  and  con- 
trolling the  destiny  of  our  nation.  It  is  not  enough — the  founda- 
tions of  learning  need  to  be  laid  deeper  and  broader.  We  need, 
we  must  have,  a  longer  school  year  and  more  stringent  laws  as 
to  attendance. 

In  the  second  place  we  must  make  over  our  courses  of  study. 
We  must  eliminate  the  fads  and  frills  and  get  back  to  funda- 
mentals. By  this  I  mean  get  really  back  to  the  fundamental 
subjects  which  the  human  race  studied  in  its  very  earliest  glim- 
merings of  knowledge  and  reasoning.  Man  first  learned  how 
to  get  his  living  from  the  soil  and  the  forest,  he  first  learned  how 
to  live  well.  Then  when  he  had  provided  for  the  means  of 
sustenance,  and  had  laid  by  a  surplus,  he  found  it  necessary  and 
pleasant  to  indulge  in  reading  and  writing.  To  facilitate  com- 
munication between  himself  and  his  fellows  he  invented  a  lan- 
guage and  a  means  of  preserving  his  thought  by  writing  it  down. 


16  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

But  reading  and  writing  were  fads — frills — of  education;  the 
real  fundamental  education  was  hunting,  farming,  housekeeping, 
the  making  of  clothes  and  preparing  of  food. 

We  must  first  of  all  provide  a  decent  and  comfortable  living 
for  our  children  and  since  we  are  an  agricultural  people,  getting 
our  living  from  the  soil,  we  must  teach  our  boys  how  to  get  a 
good,  not  only  a  meagre  living  from  the  soil  and  we  must  teach 
our  girls  how  to  help  their  future  husbands  by  keeping  the  home 
clean  and  by  providing  sufficient  and  nutritious  food.  If  neces- 
sary we  must  omit  some  of  our  so-called  "liberal  studies'*  and 
put  in  subjects  which  shall  touch  their  lives  at  vital  points.  We 
must  get  back  to  fundamentals  in  our  education.  At  12  years 
of  age  boys  and  girls  are  just  coming  to  their  inheritance.  They 
are  entering  that  period  of  life  when  they  are  neither  children 
nor  adults,  when  they  are  putting  away  childish  things  and 
taking  on  the  things  of  mature  life.  Especially  is  this  true  of 
the  girl  who  is  then  for  a  few  years  actually  and  literally  building 
the  nest  in  which  future  citizens  shall  be  born.  The  long  hours, 
the  severe  strain  of  standing,  the  necessity  for  working  when 
wholly  unfit,  all  are  inevitably  tending  to  weaken  and  to  break 
down  the  mother  of  generations  ye*  unborn.  We  are  sacrificing 
every  year  our  boys  and  girls  to  the  god  of  money.  We  are 
thoughtlessly  neglecting. and  ruthlessly  wasting  human  life.  Until 
we  can  find  some  way  to  keep  our  children  out  of  mills  and  fac- 
tories until  they  are  16  or  18  years  old  we  shall  go  on  cutting 
away  the  very  foundations  on  which  our  state,  our  nation,  is 
founded.  If  for  no  other  reason  than  a  purely  political  one  we 
must  protect,  and  we  must  compel  others  to  protect,  the  lives  and 
health  of  our  boys  and  girls  up  to  16  or  18  years  of  age. 

Finally  there  is  this  fourth  thing.  We  need  to  have  more 
regard  for  human  life.  At  the  present  time  school  laws  permit 
children  12  years  old  to  leave  the  out-of-doors,  the  fresh  air 
and  sunshine,  the  elevating  and  ennobling  influence  of  the  school 
and  to  enter  the  close,  over-heated,  gloomy,  unsanitary  mill  and 
factory. 

What  then  is  the  burden  of  my  message?  I  put  it  in  the  form 
of  a  plea.  In  order  to  conserve  our  national  life,  in  order  to 
protect  our  national  honor,  in  order  to  preserve  to  posterity  the 
principles  of  democratic  and  representative  government,  I  beg 
you,  give  to  the  public  school  officials  your  heartiest  support 
and  urge  upon  them  the  necessity  for  a  longer  school  year,  a 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  17 

vocational  course  of  study,  better  trained  teachers,  and  a  more 
strigent  compulsory  school  law.  If  you  will  do  this,  the  few 
short  steps  we  have  taken  so  far  in  this  2Oth  century  shall  be 
lengthened  into  great  strides  of  progress ;  succeeding  generations 
shall  call  you  blessed ;  and  your  own  life  shall  be  sweeter,  nobler, 
more  complete. 

THE  PROGRESSIVE  SCHOOL:  ITS  RELA- 
TION TO  COMMUNITY  INDUSTRIAL 
LIFE1 

The  school  that  is  not  directly  and  helpfully  related  to  the 
occupational  life  out  of  which  it  springs  and  by  which  it  is  sup- 
ported is  not  progressive.  It  is  unhinged  and  out  of  joint.  It  is 
ancient,  musty  and  fusty;  befogged,  bewildered  and  belated. 
Why  should  a  community  receive  a  stone  when  it  asks  bread  of 
its  school? 

Occupation  and  bread  mean  business  and  life;  they  signify 
making  a  living,  living  a  life,  and  saving  a  soul.  They  concern 
the  human  and  the  divine  necessities  and  possibilities  of  our  chil- 
dren; the  matter  of  their  bodies  and  the  fire-mist  of  their 
souls — the  bread,  kingdoms,  stars,  and  sky  that  Emerson  sings. 
So  much,  to  indicate  that  I  do  not  have  in  mind  a  crass  material- 
ism and  nothing  more  when  I  recognize  the  imperious,  inescap- 
able trinity  of  food,  clothing  and  shelter  as  a  primary  problem 
for  the  schools  to  consider. 

In  ways  more  or  less  successful,  in  this  large  sense,  various 
schools  are  relating  themselves  to  the  industrial  life  of  their 
communities — the  farm-life  schools  in  North  Carolina,  the  agri- 
cultural high  schools  of  the  various  states,  the  Page  county 
schools  in  Iowa,  the  folkschulen  of  Denmark,  the  schools  of 
Ontario,  the  John  Swaney  school  in  Illinois  and  similar  schools 
in  other  states,  the  school  of  Fitchburg  and  Gary;  the  college 
of  the  City  of  New  York,  the  universities  of  Cincinnati  and 
Pittsburg,  the  state  universities  of  Wisconsin,  Texas  and  North 
Carolina.  This,  for  a  brief  list.  There  are  many  others  that  de- 
serve mention.  The  bulletins  of  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion acquaint  you  with  them  fully. 

1  By  E.  C.  Branson,  Rural  Economics  and  Sociology,  University  of 
North  Carolina.  Educational  Monthly.  2:18-20.  January,  1916. 


i8  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

But  when  listed  at  length,  such  schools  are  few  when  com- 
pared with  the  countless  schools  of  all  sorts  that  are  drifting 
along  undisturbed  by  the  modern  demand  that  schools  be  efficient 
agencies  of  social  adjustment  and  uplift.  Their  courses  are  still 
formal,  abstract,  and  academic.  They  still  think  that  the  further 
away  a  thing  is  in  time  and  space,  the  better  worth  studying  it 
is.  They  are  serenely  unconcerned  about  the  near,  the  here,  and 
the  now. 

Second.  There  is  a  nearby  world  of  things  to  be  explored; 
and  the  knowledge  gained  quickens  and  makes  alive.  There  is 
a  nearby  world  of  opportunities  and  possibilities,  puzzles  and 
problems  that  challenge  action,  constructive  and  curative.  It  is 
the  home-community,  the  home-county,  the  mother-state.  The 
student  who  knows  his  home  community  thoroughly  will  inter- 
pret New  York  sanely  by  and  by — or  the  Greece  and  Rome  of 
glory  and  grandeur. 

Community  studies  concern  local  geography  and  history. 
They  direct  attention  to  origins,  racial  strains,  noteworthy  events 
and  achievements,  historic  localities  and  memorials ;  to  libraries, 
schools,  churches,  charities,  and  other  organizations  and  agencies 
of  social  uplift;  to  community  building  leaders  and  their  con- 
tributions to  the  material  and  spiritual  wealth  of  the  community. 

But  also  they  concern  community  resources  and  their  develop- 
ment or  neglect;  populations,  occupations  and  industries;  eco- 
nomic classes  and  conditions ;  the  factors  in  the  production,  re- 
tention of  community  wealth,  surplus  wealth  and  its  relation  to 
the  self-sustaining,  self-protecting,  self-elevating  abilities  of  the 
community;  market  and  credit  conditions;  organization  and  co- 
operation, civic,  social,  and  commercial ;  the  facilities  for  commu- 
nication and  transportation ;  public  health  and  sanitation ;  recrea- 
tion and  amusements ;  school,  church  and  Sunday  school  con- 
ditions and  problems. 

Here  are  the  forces,  agencies  and  institutions  that  are  cre- 
ating opportunities  or  obstacles  ;  that  are  making  or  marring  com- 
munity destinies.  And  here  are  direct  homespun  studies  that 
train  for  effective  citizenship  and  generous  social  service. 

They  are  large  subjects  and  they  need  simplification  for  im- 
mature minds.  It  is  our  task  at  the  University  and  yours  in  the 
grammar  schools. 

In  addition  to  the  direct  study  of  local  conditions  and  needs 
there  must  be  the  vocational  activities  that  will  react  beneficially 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  19 

upon  the  social  life  out  of  which  the  pupils  come  and  back  into 
which  they  will  return.  An  expert  study  of  occupational  sur- 
roundings will  determine  just  what  such  school  activities  ought 
to  be.  Such  a  study  saved  Richmond  some  $200,000  a  few  years 
ago.  The  Gary  plan  suits  Gary.  The  Fitchburg  plan  suits 
Fitchburg.  Only  the  Raleigh  plan  will  suit  Raleigh,  and  only 
the  Greensboro  plan  will  suit  Greensboro. 

In  the  French  schools  we  found  courses  in  housewifery, 
drawing,  light,  shade,  and  color  everywhere;  but  in  the  gold- 
smiths' district  of  Paris  we  found  the  tool  work  and  decorative 
design  concentrated  upon  jewelry  and  gold  and  silver  wares;  in 
the  millinery  district,  the  vocational  emphasis  was  laid  upon 
artificial  flowers  and  hat  designs — confections,  they  called  them. 
In  the  furniture  and  mantle  making  quarters  we  found  that  the 
vocational  activities  of  the  schools  were  directed  to  developing 
artistic  invention,  taste,  and  skill  in  these  particular  trades. 
They  were  making  artists  out  of  artisans,  and  thereby  raising 
the  level  of  the  school  neighborhood. 

In  quite  the  same  way  our  country  schools  need  to  be 
adjusted  to  country-life  surroundings — as  they  are  in  Page 
county,  Iowa ;  but  in  Alleghany  or  Catawba  or  Sampson  or  Beau- 
fort the  problem  is  individual  and  unique  in  each  case.  Nothing 
can  be  adopted ;  everything  can  be  adapted.  The  country  school 
problem  can  be  solved  by  the  country-minded  teacher ;  the 
teacher  whose  soul  is  saturated  with  country-mindedness,  and 
by  no  other. 

And  the  solution  will  not  be  found  in  bread-and-butter 
studies  alone.  The  country  school  must  give  the  country  child 
a  new  outlook  upon  country  life,  its  meaning,  its  possibilities  of 
satisfaction,  and  its  enjoyments.  It  must  lead  him,  as  the 
Danish  schools  do,  into  literature,  art,  and  music,  as  well  as 
teach  him  the  tillage  of  fields,  the  care  of  animals,  and  the  laws 
of  markets  and  credits. 


20  SELECTED    ARTICLES 


SECURING  EQUALITY  OF  OPPORTUNITY1 


Equality  of  opportunity  can  be  secured  only  by  proper  recog- 
nition of  (a)  individual  differences  in  native  capacities  and  in 
social  environment,  (b)  the  requirements  of  vocational  efficiency 
as  well  as  of  (c)  general  intelligence  and  executive  power. 

Upon  first  inspection  the  main  proposition,  with  its  several 
corollaries,  seemed  to  be  so  axiomatic,  and  the  character  of  an 
existing  opinion  regarding  industrial  education  indicated  in  gen- 
eral such  unanimity,  as  to  render  any  effort  at  demonstration  as 
simple  and  useless  as  shooting  at  the  classic  "barn  door."  A 
more  careful  examination  of  this  apparent  axiom,  and  a  more 
critical  analysis  of  the  implications  of  contemporary  educational 
opinion,  revealed  a  series  of  problems  of  more  or  less  difficulty 
and  intricacy.  Thereupon  the  whole  question  changed  its  cloak 
of  simplicity  for  one  of  complexity. 

At  the  first  step  of  our  examination  and  analysis,  we  are  con- 
fronted with  sharp  distinction  between  the  theory  and  the  prac- 
tice of  our  system  of  public  education.  The  land  resounds  with 
exclamations  of  loyalty  toward  a  genuinely  public  education — an 
education  for  and  by  and  of  the  people;  yet  how  few  and  far 
between  are  the  parents,  the  teachers,  the  communities  ready 
and  willing  to  make  the  change  of  educational  creed  and  to  offer 
the  financial  sacrifice  demanded  by  their  seeming  loyalty.  There 
is,  I  believe,  a  fairly  reasonable  explanation  of  this  chasm  be- 
tween words  and  deeds. 

The  American  public  school  rests  upon  the  basis  of  the  per- 
formance of  a  political  and  not  an  economic  function.  The  caba- 
listic symbol  of  democracy — equality  of  opportunity — has  pos- 
sessed meaning  for  education  only  when  attached  to  the  political 
life.  The  history  of  the  whole  social  movement  for  democracy, 
which  has  found  its  best  expression  in  and  thru  the  public 
school,  is  the  history  of  a  more  or  less  conscious  attempt  to 
make  politically  efficient  people.  The  mediocrity  of  our  suc- 
cess in  the  maintenance,  thru  education,  of  the  condition  of 

1  By  Edward  C.  Elliott.  National  Education  Association.  Proceedings, 
1908:159-61. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  21 

equity  in  political  opportunity  seems  to  have  hastened  the 
employment  of  the  symbol  of  democracy  for  the  maintenance  of 
equity  in  economic  opportunity.  And  with  this  has  come  the 
dim  recognition  of  the  probable  insufficiency  of  the  whole  for- 
mula of  equality.  The  problem  of  equality  of  religious  oppor- 
tunity in  education  has  been  solved  by  complete  elimination;  that 
of  equality  of  political  opportunity  by  a  method  of  superficial  in- 
spection; that  of  economic  opportunity  by  the  fantasy  of  antici- 
pation. 

In  fact,  "equality  of  educational  opportunity"  bears  every 
stamp  of  academic  and  philosophic  abstraction.  It  never  was, 
nor  never  will  be,  an  ideal  capable  of  realization.  What  we 
have,  and  shall  attempt  to  bring  about  thru  our  public  school,  is 
an  equilibrium,  a  balancing,  of  educational  opportunity.  Equality 
is  significant  of  similarity,  identity,  of  reward.  An  equilibrium 
of  opportunity  implies  that  grade  of  reward  commensurate  with 
capacities,  whether  those  capacities  are  of  the  endowments  of 
nature,  of  the  acquisitions  of  training,  or  of  the  fullness  of 
family  coffers.  The  maintenance  of  such  an  equilibrium  of  edu- 
cational opportunity  will  result  in  giving  to  industry  its  rightful 
share  of  competence,  and  give  to  education  for  vocation  its 
rightful  share  of  respectability;  neither  of  which  may  be  said 
to  obtain  today. 

Viewed  largely,  four  forces  may  be  said  to  contribute  to  the 
drafting  of  individuals  into  industry  and  to  the  selection  by 
individuals  of  a  vocation.  The  social,  concerned  mostly  with 
artificial  distinctions  of  social  grade  and  rank;  the  economic, 
dominated  alone  by  material  reward;  the  personal,  guided  by 
indistinct  individual  interests  and  desires;  and  the  educational, 
directed  by  ancient  traditions  of  intellectual  discipline.  Each 
acts  consciously  or  unconsciously;  with  few  exceptions  uncon- 
sciously, and  this  unconscious  mode  has  ever  been  favored  by 
formal  education. 

The  chief  argument  in  support  of  the  main  proposition  that 
some  definite  preparation  for  vocational  activity,  especially  in- 
dustrial, within  our  scheme  of  public  education,  may  be  derived 
from  the  necessary  improvement  of  the  acknowledged  selective 
function  of  the  school.  At  the  present  moment,  the  distinct 
tendency  is  toward  horizontal  stratifications  of  individuals  into 
social  classes,  instead  of  a  vertical  selection  according  to  specific 
efficiency.  Vocational  industrial  education  for  all  is  no  more 


22  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

likely  to  yield  larger  social  results  than  the  traditional,  pseudo- 
cultural,  static  education  of  the  present,  unless  it  becomes  con- 
sciously selective,  unless  it  consciously  fits  the  square  industrial 
worker  into  the  square  industrial  hole,  the  round  worker  into 
the  round  hole,  the  triangular  worker  into  the  triangular  hole. 

All  educational  reform  passes  thru  four  stages — the  stage  of 
stress,  the  stage  of  investigation,  the  stage  of  propaganda,  the 
stage  of  reorganization.  Of  these,  the  stage  of  investigation  is 
by  far  the  most  difficult  of  passage.  What  is  needed  today,  be- 
fore we  can  proceed  with  saneness  thru  the  stage  of  propaganda 
on  to  the  stage  of  rational  reorganization,  is  investigation;  facts, 
"Gradgrindian"  facts  pertaining  to  industry  and  to  children. 
We  need  to  determine  first  of  all,  the  extent  of  the  demand  lor 
trained  workers  in  specific  fields  of  industry;  we  need  to  deter- 
mine the  character  and  quality  of  the  specific  interests  and  capaci- 
ties needed  by  specific  industries.  Above  all,  we  need  to  deter- 
mine the  extent  actual  and  potential,  of  the  individual  possessions 
of  these  specific  interests  and  capacities.  Here  opens  an  entirely 
new  field  of  activity  for  the  study  of  social  needs,  and  for  the 
study  of  the  pupils  of  the  public  school. 

This  study  of  social  needs,  this  evaluation  of  industrial  con- 
ditions, can  be  carried  on  successfully  according  to  projected 
plans  by  a  comparatively  few  trained  scientific  and  skilled  inves- 
tigators. But  the  study  of  the  individual  vocational  intelligence 
and  interests,  ideals  and  capacities,  motive  and  necessities  of  the 
.American  boy  and  girl  must  be  carried  on,  in  the  largest  meas- 
ure, by  the  school.  Yet  the  school  dare  not  assume  the  responsi- 
bility for  such  study,  until  there  is  raised  up  a  new  generation  of 
public-school  teachers — especially  in  the  elementary  schools — who 
know  how  to  detect,  to  classify  and  to  direct  the  potential  indus- 
trial powers  of  the  child.  Even  given  such  teachers,  this  goal  is 
not  possible  until  we  rid  ourselves  of  the  factory,  piece-work 
system  of  education  of  our  graded  school.  This  of  itself  is  an 
almost  sure  preventive  against  knowing  very  much  about  any 
individual  pupil.  The  sum  total  of  the  superficial  observations 
of  eight  or  a  dozen  teachers,  each  of  whom  has  an  opportunity 
of  studying  and  knowing  the  child  merely  thru  one-half  of  a 
year,  or  at  the  most,  thru  a  whole  year,  will  not  equal  one-tenth 
part  of  the  insight  that  a  skilled,  observant  teacher  might  obtain, 
did  the  machinery  of  the  public  school  permit  close  contact  be- 
tween the  teacher  and  the  pupil,  thru  several  years. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  23 

Until  we  possess  reliable  data  upon  which  to  base  a  rational 
scheme  of  reorganization,  the  public  schools  cannot  hope  to  be- 
come instruments  for  "industrial  determination;"  neither  will 
they  cease  to  prevent  mis-selection  of  individuals  for  their 
proper  station  of  efficiency  and  happiness.  For  a  rightful  selec- 
tion must  precede  and  underlie  the  maintenance  of  the  educa- 
tional equilibrium  of  democracy. 


A  PHASE  OF  THE  PROBLEM  OF  UNI- 
VERSAL EDUCATION1 

Rightly  or  wrongly,  for  good  or  for  ill,  we  are  committed  to 
a  policy  of  universal  education,  a  policy  whose  wisdom,  I  be- 
lieve, has  passed  the  stage  of  discussion  among  thinking  people. 

Now,  no  system  of  education,  however  good  in  itself,  can 
claim  to  be  or  hope  to  become  universal  if  it  does  not  touch  and 
benefit  all  classes  of  men,  and  all  legitimate  branches  of  their 
activity,  both  industrial  and  non-industrial,  vocational  and  non- 
vocational.  Indeed,  universal  education  means  exactly  what  it 
says — the  education  of  all  sorts  of  men  for  all  sorts  of  purposes 
and  in  all  sorts  of  subjects  that  can  contribute  to  the  efficiency 
of  the  individual  in  a  professional  way  or  awake  and  develop 
the  best  that  was  born  into  him  as  a  man  and  a  human  being. 

Looked  at  in  this  broad  way,  industrial  education  does  not 
differ  logically  from  any  other  form  of  professional  training  that 
requires  a  large  body  of  highly  specialized  knowledge.  Nor  do 
industrial  people,  as  such,  necessarily  constitute  a  class  by  them- 
selves, but  are  men  like  other  men,  who  love  and  hate,  who  earn 
and  spend,  who  read  and  think,  and  act  and  vote,  and  do  any 
and  all  other  acts  which  may  be  performed  by  any  other  citizens. 
Now  all  of  this  leads  me  to  maintain  the  thesis  that  industrial 
education  is  not  a  thing  apart  but  is  only  a  phase,  albeit  an  im- 
portant phase,  of  our  general  system  of  universal  education,  a 
thesis  that  is  the  more  plausible  when  we  remember  that  all  men 
need  two  educations — one  that  is  vocational  and  one  that  is  not; 
one  that  will  fit  them  to  work  and  one  that  will  fit  them  to  live. 
When  we  remember  that  there  is  less  difference  between  industry 

1  From  an  article  by  Eugene  Davenport.  National  Education  Associa- 
tion. Proceedings.  1009:277-88. 


24  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

and  occupation  than  we  once  assumed;  when  we  remember  that 
90  per  cent  of  the  people  follow  industrial  pursuits  and  will 
continue  to  do  so;  when  we  remember  that  all  major  industries 
like  other  essential  activities  must  go  on  in  the  future  as  in  the 
past,  even  tho  every  man  in  the  community  were  a  college  grad- 
uate, and  when  we  remember  that  it  is  for  the  public  good  that 
these  major  industries  be  developed  and  occupied  by  educated 
men,  surely  this  position  is  not  unreasonable. 

All  parties  are  agreed  these  days  that  in  order  to  secure  a 
fair  degree  of  efficiency  in  some  way  some  sort  of  specialized  in- 
struction should  be  given  in  industrial  pursuits.  The  old  ap- 
prentice system  has  passed  away  and  the  work  of  instruction  for 
industrial  efficiency  seems  t®  be  thrown  upon  the  schools.  It  is 
a  new  problem  and  they  appear  not  to  know  quite  what  to  do 
with  it.  It  is  perfectly  clear  that  industrial  education  calls  for 
new  and  different  courses  of  instruction  from  those  designed  to 
fit  for  non-industrial  pursuits,  and  the  question  is  whether  these 
constitute  a  part  of  our  public  schools  duty  or  whether  the 
peculiar  educational  needs  of  industry  and  of  industrial  people 
may  be  left  to  take  care  of  themselves.  In  discussing  indus- 
trial education,  as  with  all  other  forms  of  education,  it  must 
always  be  remembered  that  we  are  dealing  with  the  man  as  well 
as  with  the  craftsman,  and  I  use  the  term  craftsman  in  its  broad- 
est sense  to  cover  the  work  of  the  lawyer  as  well  as  that  of  the 
farmer. 

But  no  scheme  of  education  is  truly  universal  or  can  hope  to 
become  so  until  it  not  only  touches  and  uplifts  all  classes  of  men 
but  also  touches  and  uplifts  their  industries  as  well ;  for  it  is  not 
expedient  that  men  should  desert  industry  as  soon  as  they  are 
educated,  but  rather  that  they  should  remain  and  apply  their  edu- 
cation to  the  development  of  the  industries,  that  the  people  may 
be  better  served  and  the  economic  balance  of  things  be  not  dis- 
turbed by  the  evolution  of  an  educational  system  aiming  to  be- 
come universal. 

But  as  yet  we  have  no  system  of  secondary  education  that  can 
be  called  universal  and  until  the  matter  is  settled,  and  settled 
right  at  this  point,  our  system  is  weak  at  its  most  important 
level  because  it  is  our  secondary  education  that  touches  our 
people  during  their  formative  period  and  that  really  reaches  the 
masses  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  truly  universal  in  extent. 

I  say  that  our  secondary  education  is  not  yet  universal.    True, 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  25 

the  high  schools  are  open  to  all  who  have  finished  the  grades,  but 
they  do  not  offer  to  most  classes  of  people  that  instruction  which 
is  a  preparation  for  life  and  which  the  needs  of  the  time  and 
the  impulse  of  the  people  demand. 

The  high  schools  took  their  cue  originally  from  the  old-time 
academies  which  were  training-schools  for  classical  colleges. 
Since  then  primary  education  has  become  universal  because  it 
involved  nothing  but  opening  the  schools  to  all  the  people  free 
of  tuition.  The  education  of  the  colleges  has  become,  or  is 
rapidly  becoming,  universal  because  the  people  demand  that  the 
benefits  of  higher  education  shall  not  be  limited  to  a  few  favored 
occupations  and  those  who  follow  them — all  upon  the  ground  that 
such  a  course  would  be  pernicious  because  against  the  public 
welfare. 

The  same  influences  are  beginning  to  work  in  our  high 
schools,  which  are  moving  in  the  wake  of  the  colleges,  it  seems  to 
me,  in  a  way  that  is  wholly  commendable,  and  that  needs  only  to 
be  accelerated  and  not  retarded. 

The  high  schools  are  schools  of  the  people  and  in  response 
to  their  demand  they  have  added  to  the  old-time  classical 
courses  those  in  modern  science,  in  manual  training,  in  house- 
hold science,  and  indeed,  many  are  now  adding  agriculture, 
stenography,  telegraphy,  bookkeeping,  type-setting,  and  a  list  of 
vocational  courses  almost  too  long  to  be  mentioned,  all  without 
prejudice  to,  but  vastly  to  the  enrichment  of,  the  old-time  courses 
of  study. 

So  the  high  schools  are  rapidly  following  in  the  lead  of  the 
colleges  and  if  matters  go  on  as  they  are  now  drifting  in  some 
of  our  best  schools,  it  will  not  be  long  until,  in  response  to  pub- 
lic demand  and  common-sense,  we  will  have  a  complete  system 
of  universal  education  in  the  large  sense  of  the  term  and  of  all 
grades  from  the  elementary  schools  upward,  in  which  men  and 
women  of  all  kinds  and  preferences  will  be  able  to  get  that  edu- 
cation which  will  not  only  fit  them  for  life  but  fit  them  to  live. 
In  the  name  of  progress  let  this  good  work  go  on. 

There  are  but  three  influences,  it  seems  to  me,  that  can  inter- 
fere with  the  proper  evolution  of  the  high  schools.  They  may 
be  outlined  as  follows: 

i.  The  movement  in  certain  quarters  for  separate  industrial  schools — 
agricultural  schools  in  the  country  and  trade  schools  in  the  city — quite  in- 


26  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

dependent  from  the  high  school  system  which  is  assumed  to  be  indifferent  if 
not  antagonistic  to  industrial  life. 

2.  The   attitude   of  a    few   remaining   exponents    of   the   old   idea   that 
schools  should   teach  nothing  that  by   any  possibility  could  be  put  to  any 
manner  of  use. 

3.  The  difficulty  involved  on  the   part  of  the  high   schools  in   adding 
not  only  to  their  educational  purpose  but  to  their  courses  of  study,   their 
.equipment,   and    their   teaching   force,    with   sufficient    rapidity   to   meet  the 
new  demands  and  mold  the  whole  into  an  educational  unity  without  such 
delay  as  shall  make  the  claim  seem  true  that  after  all  the  high  schools  have 
no  real  desire  to  serve  the  people  in  their  industrial  activities,  but  will  do 
no  more  than  is  necessary  to  half  satisfy  what  they  regard  as  an  irrational 
public  demand.     Thus  the  high  schools  are  put  at  disadvantage  at  this  most 
difficult  period  in  their  evolution,  particularly  as  teachers  are  yet  to  be  made 
even  while  these  new  ideals   are  to  be  fitted  into   and  made  a  part  of  our 
permanent    educational   policies. 

Now  these  considerations  are  worth  reviewing  at  the  present 
juncture,  because  what  the  high  schools  need  is  time,  and  this  is 
the  element  in  the  case  least  likely  to  be  afforded.  The  activity 
of  certain  educators  in  favor  of  separate  agricultural  schools  of 
one  kind  or  another,  and  what  I  am  bound  to  call  the  selfish 
influence  of  certain  commercial  interests  den/anding  city  trade 
schools  to  teach  that  sort  of  handicraft  which  will  produce  skilled 
workmen  in  the  shortest  possible  space  of  time  and  best  enable 
us  to  meet  foreign  or  other  competition  in  manufactured  articles 
— this  activity  and  this  influence  seem  ready  to  sacrifice  almost 
anything  for  immediate  results.  This  American  edition  of  the 
German  peasant  school  idea  is  most  dangerous  because  a  most 
insidious  and  powerful  menace  to  the  right  development  of  the 
American  high  school,  which  is  or  may  be  the  most  unique  edu- 
cational institution  on  earth,  and  which  will  constitute,  if  it  can 
rightly  develop,  the  key  to  the  advantageous  position  which 
America  ought  to  occupy  both  socially,  politically,  and  econonom- 
ically,  and  which  she  can  occupy  if  she  is  far-sighted  enough 
at  this  point  and  at  this  time. 

If  present  tendencies  can  go  on  unhampered,  it  will  not  be 
long  until  every  community  can  have  its  high  school  which  will 
reflect  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  its  major  industries  and 
do  it,  too,  in  the  light  of  the  world's  knowledge  and  of  the 
world's  ideals.  Such  schools  will  turn  out  men  and  women  ready 
to  do  the  world's  work  and  think  the  world's  thoughts  as  well  as 
to  dream  the  world's  dreams  and  share  in  its  ambitions.  If  we 
combine  our  energies  we  can  have  such  schools  in  America 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  27 

wherein  every  young  man  and  every  young  woman  can  secure  an 
education  that  is  at  once  both  useful  and  cultural,  and  that,  too, 
within  driving  distance  of  the  father's  door.  If  we  unite  our 
educational  energies  we  can  do  this  but  we  cannot  do  it  in  sep- 
arate schools. 

We  can  combine  the  vocational  and  the  non-vocational  in  our 
high  schools  if  we  will  and  each  be  the  better  for  the  other.  On 
the  contrary,  if  the  arts  and  crafts  and  industries  are  taught  in 
separate  schools  the  following  results  are  inevitable : 

1.  There    will    be    as    many    different    schools    and    as    many    different 
forms  of  education  as  there  are  different  forms  of  industry,  with  little  of 
mutual  sympathy  and  nothing   of  community  of   purpose. 

2.  The    vocational    future    of    the    individual    will    be    decided   not    by 
intelligent  choice  but  by  the  accident  of  proximity  to  one  of  these  schools 
or  the  exigency  of  earning  power. 

i  3.  If  industrial  education  is  given  only  in  industrial  schools,  then  the 
high  schools  will  lose)  forever  their  hold  upon  the  masses,  for  90  per  cent 
of  the  people  are  industrial  and  always  will  be,  and  boys  will  follow  occu- 
pational instruction.  This  will  reduce  the  high  schools  to  the  teaching  of 
the  girls  and  the  work  of  preparing  for  college  and  they  will  lose  forever 
the  influence  upon  American  life  which  they  might  exert  by  molding  the 
ideals  of  the  masses  as  they  instruct  them  in  their  industries. 

4.  The   separate    industrial    schools    will    always    be    inferior    to    what 
the  high  schools  might  be,  for,  being  established  to  serve  special  ends,  they 
will  naturally  attain  those  ends  by  the  most  direct  means  possible;   indeed 
they  must  be  almost  exclusively   technical   or  else  resort   to   an   amount   of 
duplication  and  expense  that  would  hardly  be  tolerated  by  their  patrons. 

5.  The  products   of  these  schools   would   be  successful  from   the  nar- 
rowest   business    standpoint;    but    unsuccessful    from    the    larger    point    of 
view;  they  would  be  trained  rather  than  educated. 

6.  Such   schools    would  force   boys   to   choose   their  calling  or   indeed 
have  it  chosen  for  them  at  a  very  early  age,  and  without  much  opportunity 
for    an   intelligent  choice.      Once   chosen,   however,   the    decision   would   be 
final.     The  results,  however,  would  greatly  satisfy  business  demands  which 
are  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  the  man  to  his  efficiency. 

7.  If  members  of  the  several  vocations  are  to  be  educated  separately 
the  education  will  not  only  be  hopelessly  narrow  and  needlessly  expensive 
but,  what  is  even  worse,  our  people  will  be  educated  in  groups  separately, 
without  knowledge  of  or  sympathy  for  each  other,  producing  a  stratification 

,  of  our  people  that  is  not  only  detrimental  to  society  but  dangerous  if  not 
/fatal  to  democratic  institutions.  Such  schools  will,  however,  draw  the 
masses  and  have  all  the  surface  indications  of  success. 

So,  all  things  considered,  I  most  earnestly  advocate  the  tak- 
ing over  of  our  industrial  education  in  all  its  forms  into  the 
existing  system  of  secondary  schools,  seeing  to  it  that  one- 
fourth  the  time  of  every  pupil  is  devoted  to  something  voca- 


28  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

tional,  something  industrial,  if  you  please,  and  no  industry  is  too 
common  for  this  purpose.  It  is  the  common  things  of  life  that 
are  fundamental  and  it  is  thru  them  that  we  teach  life  itself. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  bring  all  occupations  and  industries 
into  our  schools ;  some  are  not  well  adapted  to  our  academic  con- 
ditions, but  it  is  necessary  that  we  bring  in  a  goodly  variety  of 
what  may  be  called  the  major  activities,  industrial  and  non-in- 
dustrial, in  order  that  life  shall  be  taught  in  a  variety  of  its 
forms  and  that  the  boy  shall  have  a  reasonable  chance  for  choice. 

Trade  schools,  would  you  have  them?  By  all  means,  but  I 
would  have  them  as  a  part  of  the  secondary  school  system. 
Agricultural  schools?  Yes,  but  as  departments  of  the  high 
school.  Cooking  schools  ?  Yes,  and  more :  I  would  have  schools 
of  household  affairs,  but  I  would  have  them  as  integral  parts  of 
the  high  school.  Schools  of  stenography  and  typewriting?  Yes, 
but  I  would  not  disconnect  them  from  the  high  school  any  more 
than  I  would  cut  off  from  womankind  the  girl  who  needs  per- 
haps for  a  time,  perhaps  always,  to  earn  her  own  money. 

In  brief,  there  is  no  class  of  occupation  followed  by  large 
masses  of  people  that  I  would  not  bring  into  the  high  school 
and  teach  as  fully  as  circumstances  would  permit,  and  I  would 
compel  every  student  to  devote  not  less  than  one-fourth  and  not 
more  than  one-half  of  his  time  to  these  occupational  lines. 

I  have  said  that  a  second  influence  operating  to  restrain  the 
high  schools  from  moving  in  this  matter  as  fast  as  conditions 
require  is  the  remnant  of  an  old  academic  belief  that  the  purpose 
of  schools  is  to  "make  men,"  whatever  that  may  be,  as  distinct 
from  making  men  ready  for  life.  These  are  they  would  teach 
nothing  that  could  by  any  means  be  put  to  any  sort  of  use.  With 
them  education  is  a  luxury,  not  a  necessity,  a  kind  of  holy  thing 
that  evaporates  or  in  some  way  loses  its  essence  when  put  to 
common  uses  or  into  the  hands  of  the  masses  of  men. 

These  be  they  who  are  always  speaking  of  industrial  educa- 
tion as  "training,"  using  a  term  whose  meaning  is  understood 
from  its  frequent  application  to  horses  and  dogs. 

Now  to  such  let  me  say  that  the  thing  which  all  men  every- 
where now  demand,  whatever  their  vocation  or  means  of  liveli- 
hood, is  not  training  merely  but  education,  and  they  mean  by  that 
such  contact  and  intimacy  with  the  world's  stock  of  knowledge 
as  shall  first  of  all  develop  the  industry,  and  second,  but  not 
secondarily,  develop  also  the  man. 

Thinking  men  now  know  that,   education  or  no  education, 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  29 

culture  or  no  culture,  whatever  the  grade  of  civilization  we  may 
evolve,  certain  fundamental  industries  must  still  go  on.  More- 
over, they  know  that  if  these  fundamental  industries  are  to  be 
well  conducted  and  our  natural  resources  developed,  then  these 
activities  must  be  in  the  hands  of  capable  men;  yes,  of  educated 
men,  for  industry,  like  every  other  activity  of  man,  is  capable 
of  development  by  means  of  orderly  knowledge  and  trained 
minds. 

They  know,  too,  these  thinking  people,  that  men  of  capacity 
cannot  be  found  to  develop  these  fundamentals  except  they  may 
also  themselves  partake  of  the  blessings  of  life  and  the  full 
fruits  of  our  civilization.  They  know  that  the  days  of  the 
hewers  of  wood  and  the  drawers  of  water,  as  such — condemned 
to  a  life  of  drudgery — are  over  on  this  earth  wherever  civiliza- 
tion exists,  and  that  education,  like  religion,  must  somewhat 
rapidly  readjust  itself  to  new  conditions  and  prepare  to  help  the 
common  average  man  to  lead  a  life  that  is  both  useful  to  the 
community  and  a  satisfaction  to  himself. 

The  aristocracy  of  education,  like  the  aristocracy  of  religion, 
whereby  a  few  were  saved  at  the  expense  of  the  many,  is  over, 
and  education,  like  religion,  must  help  the  common  man  to  meet 
and  solve  the  common  issues  of  life  better  than  they  have  ever 
been  met  and  solved  before — hence  industrial  education;  hence 
vocational  education ;  hence  universal  education. 

These  good  people  who  shy  at  the  term  industrial  education 
are  remnants  of  a  past  condition  when  educators  and  others 
entertained  that  old-time  and  curious  conception  of  industry, 
whereby  industrial  people  were  assumed  to  be  uneducated  and 
were  by  common  consent  assigned  a  social  position  of  natural 
inferiority,  as  if  a  farmer  or  a  mechanic,  for  example,  acquired 
by  his  daily  life  a  kind  of  toxic  poison  that  not  only  destroyed 
his  better  faculties  but  was  likely  to  exude  and  soil  or  injure 
others. 

Let  me  call  the  attention  of  these  good  people  to  the  fact 
that  whatever  their  social  status  the  industrial  people  hold  the 
balance  of  power  politically  and  socially,  for  they  constitute  90 
per  cent  of  the  population,  and  that  for  all  practical  purposes 
and  in  the  last  analysis  they  are  the  people,  and  their  education, 
whatever  it  is  to  be,  will  really  constitute  our  system. 

The  colleges  learned  long  ago  that  to  meet  modern  needs 
they  must  afford  every  man  two  educations :  one  intensely  tech- 
nical to  meet  his  business  needs  and  make  him  an  efficient  mem- 


30  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

her  of  society  but  which  would  tend  to  narrow  him  as  a  man; 
the  other  non-vocational,  which  has  no  money-making  power, 
but  whose  effect  is  to  liberalize  and  broaden  the  man  by  attract- 
ing his  interests  and  widening  his  knowledge  outside  the  field 
wherein  he  gains  his  livelihood. 

Now  the  high  schools. must  learn  the  same  lesson  and  the 
sooner  they  do  so  the  better  for  all  interests.  Therefore  these 
high  schools  that  are  introducing  the  industrial  are  developing 
in  the  right  lines.  The  high  schools  are  not  preparatory  schools 
for  college.  They  are  pre-eminently  the  schools  wherein  the 
people  are  fitted  for  life.  Where  one  man  is  educated  in  college, 
twenty  will  get  all  their  preparation  in  high  schools.  The  high 
school,  therefore,  is  the  place  wherein  the  boy  shall  find  himself 
to  the  end  that  if  he  goes  to  college  he  will  have,  upon  matricu- 
lation, exceedingly  clear  ideas  about  what  he  intends  to  do,  and 
if  he  does  not  he  can  go  out  from  the  high  school  at  once  and 
take  some  useful  part  in  the  world's  work.  The  large  number 
of  high  school  men,  even  graduates,  who  have  no  plans  and, 
more  than  all,  no  fitness,  preparation  or  inclination  for  any  sort 
of  useful  activity,  is  a  pathetic  and  a  dangerous  fact — pathetic 
because  so  much  good  material  has  been  wasted;  dangerous  be- 
cause the  high  schools  must  either  change  their  ideals  and  intro- 
duce the  industrial  freely,  or  the  industrial  masses  will  find 
other  schools  of  their  own  that  will  meet  their  needs  as  they 
have  been  met  on  college  levels  but  as  they  have  not  yet  been 
met  in  secondary  grades  where  the  masses  go. 

Now  the  colleges  have  learned  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  ab- 
sorb all  the  time  of  the  student  in  order  to  turn  out  an  efficient 
man  vocationally.  Much  less  is  it  necessary  in  secondary 
schools.  On  college  levels,  from  one-half  to  two-thirds  of  the 
students  time  suffices  for  the  vocational,  and  when  we  learn 
better  how  to  teach,  results  can  doubtless  be  attained  with  still 
less,  leaving  a  generous  amount  of  time  for  the  pursuit  of  the 
non-vocational  and  therefore  of  liberalizing  courses,  for  the 
effect  of  a  course  of  study,  whether  narrowing  or  broadening, 
depends  less  upon  the  subject  matter  than  upon  the  attitude  of 
the  student  and  the  purpose  for  which  he  takes  the  course. 
Chemistry  is  a  professional  study  to  the  prospective  farmer, 
while  to  the  journalist  or  the  lawyer  it  is  non-professional  and 
liberal. 

If  we  honestly  take  into  our  high  schools,  as  we  have  taken 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  31 

into  our  universities,  all  the  major  activities,  splitting  no  hairs  as 
between  the  industrial  and  the  professional,  for  no  man  can 
define  the  difference,  so  imperceptibly  do  they  shade  the  one  into 
the  other — if  we  will  take  them  all  into  the  high  school  as  we 
have  already  taken  them  into  the  universities,  and.  carry  them 
along  together,  the  vocational  and  the  non-vocational  side  by 
side,  day  after  day,  from  first  to  last,  so  the  boy  is  never  free 
from  either,  then  will  all  our  educational  necessities  be  met  and 
we  will  have  met  a  goodly  number  of  substantial  achievements, 
prominent  among  which  I  would  mention  the  following: 

1.  One-fourth    of   the    time   of    the   boy   or    girl   could    be    devoted    to 
vocational  work  in  the  classroom  or  laboratory  thruout  the  course. 

2.  This  would  turn  out  every  boy  with  some  skill  in,  some  branch  of 
the   world's   work,   and   do    away   with   that   large    and  growing  number    of 
young  high  school  graduates  who  are  fitted  for  nothing  and  are   good  for 
nothing  in  particular. 

3.  It  would  attract  the  attention  of  the  boy  to  self-supporting  activity 
before  he  loses  his  natural  ambition  by  too  much  schooling  with  no  initia- 
tive. 

4.  It  would  turn  out  girls  with  some  training  in  household  affairs,  and 
those  who  desired  it  in  such  occupations  as  women  follow  for  self-support. 

5.  It  would  vastly  uplift  most  occupations   and  all  of  the  more  ordi- 
nary industries  by  bringing  into  their  practice  the  benefit  of  trained  minds 
and  methods. 

6.  It  can  do  all  this  and  still  leave  three-fourths  of  the  time  for  the 
acquisition   of  those   non-vocational  lines   of  knowledge  which   all  men  and 
women  need,  because  they  are  human  beings  getting  ready  to  live  in  a  most 
interesting  world. 

7.  In  this  way,  we  should  have  a  single  system  of  education  under  a 
single   management,   but   giving   to   all   young  men   and   women   really   two 
educations:   one  that   is   vocational,  fitting  them   to   be  self-supporting   and 
useful,   the  other  non-vocational   and  looking  to  their  own   development. 

Expensive?  No  more  so  than  to  have  it  done  in  separate 
schools,  surely.  It  will  be  done  somehow,  and  the  only  question 
now  is,  will  the  high  schools  really  rise  to  their  opportunity  and 
secure  thru  themselves  a  real  system  of  universal  education,  or 
are  they  to  lose  their  chance  and  we  to  have  in  the  end  not  a  real 
but  only  a  patchwork  imitation  of  a  system  of  universal  educa- 
tion ? 

I  am  perfectly  well  aware  that  all  this  will  be  held  by  some 
as  a  lowering  of  standards  and  a  degrading  of  education  by 
commercializing  it.  Against  this  conclusion  I  protest  most  em- 
phatically. Does  it  degrade  a  thing  to  use  it?  Does  it  degrade 
religion  to  uplift  the  fallen  or  to  sustain  the  masses  of  men  from 


32  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

falling?  Is  education  a  luxury  to  be  restricted  to  a  few  favored 
fortunates  or  is  it  a  power  to  uplift  and  sustain  and  develop  all 
men? 

Are  you  afraid  to  educate  the  ditch-digger?  Is  the  educa- 
tion of  the  gentleman  too  good  for  him?  Are  the  facts  of  his- 
tory too  profound  or  the  satisfaction  of  knowledge  too  precious 
to  be  common  property  of  man?  Does  it  make  my  satisfaction 
less  when  it  makes  his  more,  or  are  you  afraid  that  he  will 
climb  out  of  the  ditch  if  he  is  enlightened?  There  is  no  danger 
of  that.  I  have  dug  ditch  and  laid  tile  every  month  of  the  year 
and  that  since  I  was  a  college  graduate,  and  I  am  ready  to  do  it 
again.  I  am  ready  to  do  my  share  of  the  world's  work:  yes, 
of  the  world's  dirty  work.  It  was  Colonel  Waring  who  cleaned 
up  New  York  City.  It  was  the  educated  engineer  who  made 
a  sanitary  Cuba.  The  educated  man  does  anything  that  is  needed 
to  be  done  to  get  results.  It  is  the  uneducated  or  the  badly  edu- 
cated who  fails  to  comprehend  the  eternal  balance  of  things. 

I  desire  to  call  attention  to  one  more  phase  of  our  problem, 
to  what  may  be  called  our  leisure  asset.  There  are  two  leisure 
classes,  one  few  and  unimportant,  the  other  large  and  important. 
The  first  consists  of  the  idle  rich  who  by  accident  were  born 
after  their  fathers,  and  who  intend  to  live  a  parasitic  existence, 
paying  for  their  needs  with  other  people's  money.  They  are 
altogether  useless.  It  matters  little  how  they  are  educated  and 
the  sooner  they  die  off  the  better  for  the  world.  They  do  not 
think :  they  do  not  act :  they  only  vegetate  and  glitter.  The 
wealthy  who  do  not  belong  to  this  class  are  too  busy  for  leisure. 

The  other  leisure  class  is  the  great  industrial  mass,  who, 
after  all,  own  and  control  about  all  the  useful  leisure  in  the 
world.  The  minister  has  no  leisure.  The  teacher  has  no  leis- 
ure. The  lawyer,  the  leader  everywhere,  has  no  leisure.  What 
he  does  he  does  under  pressure  and  because  he  must. 

But  the  farmer,  the  craftsman,  the  industrialist  generally, 
labors  only  in  the  daylight  hours  and  for  a  portion  of  his  time. 
What  he  does  with  the  balance  of  his  waking  energies  is  of  the 
utmost  concern.  Here  is  the  racial  asset,  both  social  and  psychi- 
cal ;  both  economic  and  political. 

If  this  great  mass  of  men,  constituting  all  but  the  degener- 
ates, can  be  properly  educated,  the  racial  asset  of  their  leisure 
moments  will  in  the  end  be  tremendous.  It  is  this  mass,  and 
what  it  thinks  and  does  in  its  leisure  hours  either  blindly  or 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  33 

intelligently,  that  will  ultimately  fix  the  trend  of  our  development 
and  the  limits  of  our  achievements.  It  is  better  that  they  be 
educated  broadly. 

Moreover,  it  is  out  of  this  mass  that  leaders  arise,  and  if  their 
education  be  sound,  then  will  our  leaders  be  wise  and  safe.  You 
cannot  maintain  any  more  an  educated  aristocracy.  There  will 
be  but  one  aristocracy  and  that  will  be  the  aristocracy  of  personal 
achievement,  and  if  we  do  not  want  the  world  entirely  commer- 
cialized we  must  so  merge  our  industrial  education  into  our  gen- 
eral system  as  to  have  in  the  end  not  a  mass  of  separate  schools 
with  distracting  aims  and  purposes,  but  a  single  system  of  edu- 
cation catering  to  all  classes  and  all  interests.  It  is  the  only 
influence  that  will  preserve  a  homogeneous  people. 

In  thus  amalgamating  the  vocational  and  the  non-vocational, 
I  would  like  to  say  a  word  for  what  might  be  called  the  parallel 
system  as  distinct  from  the  stratified.  That  is,  I  would  have  a 
boy  from  his  first  day  in  the  high  school  to  his  last  have  to  do 
with  both  the  vocational  and  the  non-vocational.  I  would  have 
him  every  day  take  stock  of  things  vocational  in  terms  of  world 
values.  I  would  have  him  devote  a  full  fourth  of  his  time  to 
what  will  bring  him  earning  power,  to  be  used  for  that  purpose 
if  he  needs  it,  and  to  give  him  an  independent  spirit  if  he  does 
not  need  it.  Every  man  is  a  better  man  if  he  feels  the  power  to 
earn  his  way,  whether  he  needs  to  do  it  or  not. 

Do  you  say  that  this  will  so  cut  into  his  time  as  to  prevent  his 
getting  an  all-round  education?  Then  I  will  say  that  he  will 
never  get  an  all-round, education  any  way:  that  the  most  he 
knows  at  forty  will  be  learned  out  of  school  and  that  the  busi- 
ness of  the  school  is  to  give  him  a  good  start. 

I  beg,  too,  for  a  reform  in  the  idea  that  a  course  is  framed 
mainly  for  the  one  who  graduates.  If  the  vocational  and  the 
non-vocational  are  properly  paralleled  the  course  is  good  from 
whatever  point  it  is  left,  and  whenever  abandoned  it  has  taught 
the  student  the  proper  balance  between  industry  and  life,  be- 
tween the  means  and  the  ends  of  life. 

All  this  will  take  time  because  it  means  to  some  extent  the 
readjustment  of  ideals,  the  addition  of  new  courses  of  study 
and  of  new  materials  and  methods  of  instruction.  It  means  the 
making  of  a  new  class  of  teachers  who  must  largely  train  them- 
selves by  a  generation  of  experience.  It  means  the  making  of  a 
more  complicated  system  of  instruction  than  has  ever  been 


34  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

undertaken — a  system  as  complicated  as  American  democratic 
life. 

But  it  is  worth  the  while,  for  nothing  better  is  possible.  It 
is  easier,  of  course,  to  short-circuit  the  matter  by  assenting  to 
the  separation  of  industry  and  education,  but  no  race  need  hope 
for  supremacy  or  for  the  evolution  of  its  best  till  it  combines 
industry  and  education,  which  belong  together  in  the  schools  as 
they  do  now  and  always  must  in  life. 

So  I  say  to  the  high  schools — Do  not  wait  for  approved 
courses  of  study,  nor  for  the  production  of  skilled  teachers.  Go 
ahead  and  do  the  best  you  can.  An  honest  effort  is  half  the 
battle,  and  it  is  worth  more  than  it  ever  will  be  again.  Do  not 
hesitate  till  methods  are  marked  out.  If  you  do  that,  you  and 
the  cause  are  lost,  for  the  separate  industrial  school  will  surely 
come.  We  know  the  ideal — an  educated  American  in  all  the  ac- 
tivities of  life.  Let  us  go  ahead  and  produce  him  and  mend  our 
methods  later  on. 

Education  is  no  longer  a  luxury.  It  has  become  a  necessity 
for  the  doing  of  the  world's  work.  It  is  no  longer  for  the  edifi- 
cation of  the  few;  it  is  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  many.  And 
whether  we  regard  it  as  industrial  or  non-industrial;  as  contri- 
buting to  the  efficiency  of  men  or  to  their  elevation  in  civilized 
society;  however  this  or  any  other  educational  problem  is  re- 
garded they  are  all  but  phases  of  our  general  and  stupendous 
problem  of  universal  education,  in  the  working-out  of  which 
there  are  as  yet  no  models  for  the  American  secondary  school. 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  FOR  GIRLS1 

I  believe  the  solution  of  every  girl's  problem  is  that,  just  like 
her  brother,  she  should  prepare  for  some  useful  work.  Like 
the  boy  when  prepared  she  should  go  out  and  look  for  a  job. 
Her  choice  of  work  is  what  she  likes  and  what  she  is  trained 
for.  Men  no  longer  own  all  the  jobs.  We  know  now  that  all 
work  is  human;  that  no  work  belongs  to  a  man  because  he  is 
a  man  nor  to  a  woman  because  she  is  a  woman.  Work  belongs 
to  the  man  or  woman  who  can  do  it  best,  and  the  joy  of  reward 
belongs  to  that  man  or  woman. 

1  From  "Worth  of  a  girl,"  by  Bertha  Pratt  King. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  35 

If  our  girls  are  not  trained  to  the  right  use  of  their  gifts  and 
their  powers  then  our  girls  will  suffer.  That  a  girl  should  have 
an  intellectual  life,  that  she  should  have  an  interesting  mind, 
that  she  should  have  her  own  career  if  she  wants  it,  that  a 
girl  should  be  preparing  for  whatever  work  in  life  she  desires — 
this  is  recognizing  the  worth  of  a  girl.  She  has  a  right  to  be 
a  human  being  of  large  knowledge,  great  feeling  and  wide  ex- 
perience, capable  of  the  tremendous  work  of  a  woman  and  of  a 
human  being.  The  greatest  wrong  that  can  be  done  to  girls 
is  for  fathers  and  mothers  to  deny  them  these  fundamental 
human  rights  and  to  nurse  in  them  romantic  ideals  of  grandly 
ornamented  idleness. 

In  these  trying  years  when  girls  are  realizing  the  necessity 
of  such  work  we  should  give  them  every  guidance  and  advice. 
Let  us  do  for  them  what  we  would  do  for  our  boys.  Let  us 
teach  them  to  acquire  a  serious  work,  to  stay  by  it,  to  succeed 
in  it.  We  women  of  today  did  not  have  to  face  these  problems 
in  our  girlhood,  but  so  speedily  has  the  freedom  of  women  come 
upon  us  that  our  own  girls  stand  on  the  borderline  of  a  most 
confused  future. 


THE  ABSTRACT-MINDED  AND  THE 
MOTOR-MINDED  CHILD1 

The  different  types  of  children  in  our  school  system  may  be 
illustrated  by  a  straight  line,  one  end  of  which  might  be  called 
the  motor-minded  and  the  other  abstract-minded.  The  motor- 
minded  or  hand-minded  child  is  one  with  a  craving  for  achieve- 
ment, to  do  and  not  to  study.  He  has  a  natural  dislike  for  books 
and  finds  it  possible  to  understand  abstract  principles  only  by 
having  an  actual  experience  with  them.  The  abstract-minded 
or  book-minded  child  is  one  who  has  no  difficulty  in  committing 
to  memory  abstract  principles  and  who  likes  to  study  books.  Be- 
tween these  two  limits  are  shades  of  different  types.  The  aver- 
age child  is  motor-minded  rather  than  abstract-minded. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  during  the  first  seven  or  eight 
years  of  life  the  child  is  interested  in  objects — material  things. 
He  is  educated  by  objective  teaching.  Because  the  memory 
is  formed  during  this  period  the  average  teacher  makes  a  great 

*From  "Education  of  the  Ne'er-do-well."  p.   15-17.  By  L.  H.  Dooley. 


36  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

mistake  in  eliminating  the  objective  teaching  which  is  so  prom- 
inent in  the  first  three  grades.  He  assumes  that  the  average 
child,  without  having  any  previous  experience  or  contact  with 
the  experience  which  lie  back  of  them,  has  a  large  power  to 
grasp  ideas,  principles  or  abstractions  given  by  the  teacher  or 
read  out  of  the  text-book. 

While  a  very  few  children  of  this  age  have  the  power  of 
committing  to  memory  information  without  experience,  the 
average  boy  or  girl  is  concrete-minded  rather  than  abstract- 
minded.  He  comes  into  possession  or  grasps  new  ideas  only  by 
experience  with  (actual)  concrete  situations  in  which  he  sees 
them  illustrated  and  applied.  The  child  whose  experience  con- 
forms to  an  actual  commercial  experience  will  hold  the  princi- 
ples or  ideas  involved  better  and  will  be  able  to  apply  them  in 
working  situations  more  effectively. 

FEDERAL  AID  FOR  VOCATIONAL 
EDUCATION1 

In  theory  every  man  should  educate  his  own  children;  in 
practice  he  sometimes  will  not  and  sometimes  can  not.  Schools 
are  a  necessity  and  compulsory  attendance  inevitable  if  we  are 
to  have  an  educated  people.  In  theory  a  community  should 
establish  and  maintain  its  own  school;  in  practice  many  com- 
munities will  not  do  this  unless  they  are  compelled  by  law  and 
then  they  will  maintain  schools  only  at  the  legal  minimum.  The 
result  of  this  is  that  many  children  as  worthy  as  many  others 
and  afterwards  to  be  citizens  with  them  are  curtailed  in  their 
educational  privileges  and  through  no  fault  of  their  own.  The 
state,  therefore,  as  a  larger  and  more  powerful  unit,  should 
intervene  and  compel  the  community,  assisting  it  if  necessary, 
to  maintain  a  school  comparable  with  those  of  the  richer  com- 
munities. For  us  to  go  on  with  this  unequal  development  will 
result  in  an  extremely  uneven  development  over  the  country  as 
a  whole,  giving  the  people  of  the  various  sections  widely  dis- 
similar ideals.  It  is  imperative  that  these  differences  be  reduced 
to  a  minimum,  and  for  this  reason  federal  aid  for  vocation  is 
more  than  justified. 

It  is,  however,  in  every  way  inadvisable  that  there  should  be 

1  From  statement  by  Eugene  Davenport  to  the  Commission  on  National 
aid  to  vocational  education. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  37 

a  federal  policy  regarding  education,  because  in  the  long  run 
with  some  help  and  some  suggestions  the  communities  will  work 
out  their  own  salvation  better  than  it  can  be  worked  out  for 
them.  Congress  was  wise  in  1862  and  since  in  so  endowing  the 
agricultural  and  mechanic  arts  in  the  various  states  as  to  bring 
about  at  least  one  college  in  every  commonwealth  where  these 
two  great  subjects  should  be  taught  in  such  a  way  as  to  insure 
the  development  of  these  great  fundamental  industries  in  the 
hands  of  educated  men.  To  these  household  science  has  been 
added,  and  commerce  doubtless  should  be  included. 

The  federal  government  has  been  wise  up  to  date  in  content- 
ing itself  with  devoting  public  money  to  the  general  cause  of 
education  in  the  various  states,  leaving  to  them  the  question  as 
to  what  should  be  taught,  how  it  should  be  taught,  and  the  par- 
ticular machinery  for  giving  instruction.  Perhaps  some  addi- 
tional administrative  responsibility  should  have  been  exercised 
over  the  earlier  funds,  but  as  a  whole  the  results  of  the  land 
grant  and  its  supplementary  acts  have  been  eminently  successful, 
not  only  in  beginning  the  work  of  education  along  certain  voca- 
tional lines,  but  in  stimulating  the  states  to  add  to  the  funds  for 
the  same  purpose  many  times  as  much  as  they  have  received 
from  the  federal  sources. 

There  remains,  in  my  opinion,  but  one  thing  more  for  the 
federal  government  to  do  for  vocational  education,  namely,  to 
endow  secondary  education  in  agriculture,  mechanic  arts,  house- 
hold science,  commerce,  and  perhaps  one  or  two  other  lines,  on 
precisely  the  same  plan  that  it  has  endowed  education  in 
mechanic  arts  and  agriculture  in  the  colleges  during  the  last 
century,  leaving  to  the  states  the  question  whether  they  should 
discharge  this  duty  through  separate  vocational  schools  or 
whether  they  should  proceed,  as  I  have  indicated,  by  introducing 
as  rapidly  as  possible  the  element  of  vocational  education  into  all 
the  schools.  Conditions  differ  arid  ideals  differ.  Upon  matters 
as  large  as  this  I  believe  that  the  states  should  be  left  free  to 
act.  If  they  are  left  unhampered  they  will  determine  in  good  time 
whether  the  public  school  system  should  be  to  some  extent 
vocationalized  or  whether  it  should  be  kept  free  from  vocation 
and  other  schools  developed. 


38  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

FEDERAL  AID  FOR  VOCATIONAL 
EDUCATION1 

I.  It  is  expedient  and   desirable  that  aid  be  given  by  the 
National  Government  for  encouragement,  promotion,  and  assist- 
ance of  vocational  education  in  the  various  states  in  the  Union. 

II.  Such  aid  should  be  given  to  the  states  only  for  carefully 
specified  forms  and  grades  of  vocational  education. 

III.  Aid  should  be  given  only  after  the  state,  either  through 
the  state  as  a  whole  or  through  local  areas,  establishes  and  main- 
tains an  approved  quality  of  vocational  education  in  any  particu- 
lar direction. 

The  contribution  of  the  national  government  should  in  no 
case  exceed  the  amount  raised  by  the  state  and  its  local  areas 
for  maintenance. 

IV.  National  aid  should  be  given  to  a  state  only  when  the 
state  has  organized  a  distinctive  and  responsible  body  to  super- 
vise  the   expenditure  of    funds   for  vocational   education.    This 
local  body  may  be  the  state  board  of  education,  but  its  constitu- 
tion, with  proper  executive  officers,  should  be  approved  by  the 
national  government. 

V.  National  aid  should  be  given  in  the  form  of  reimburse- 
ment for  local  expenditures  already  incurred,  the  national  gov- 
ernment reserving  the  right  to  withhold  any  particular  amount 
in  the  event  that  the  local  work  for   which  reimbursement  is 
claimed  does  not  appear  to  meet  satisfactory  standards. 

VI.  The  national  government  should  endow  some  national 
agency  with  proper  authority,  powers,  and  facilities  to  supervise 
the  expenditure  of  money  appropriated  by  the  national  govern- 
ment to  aid  vocational  education.     This  national  agency  should 
be  placed   in   a  position  to   develop   standards   of   efficiency  in 
vocational  education,  to  define  the  conditions  under  which  any 
particular  state  should  share  in  the  national  grant,  and  in  gen- 
eral to  insure  that  national  money  should  be  wisely  spent. 

VII.  The  national  agency  should  be  placed  in  a  position  to 
inspect,  to  whatever  extent  may  be  required,   the   schools   and 
types  of  education  for  which  reimbursement  is  sought. 


1  Statement  by  David  Snedden,  Commissioner  Massachusetts  Board  of 
Education,  May  5,  1914. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  39 

FEDERAL  AID  FOR  VOCATIONAL 
EDUCATION2 

The  economy  and  success  of  any  federal  plan  for  aiding  vo- 
cational educational  in  the  several  states  will  ultimately  depend 
upon  proper  prevision  and  adequate  provision  for  a  properly 
trained  staff  of  competent  teachers  of  the  several  vocational 
subjects.  Any  plan  that  does  not  guarantee  that  the  scheme 
of  federal-aided  vocational  education  will  be  under  the  over- 
sight of  such  a  trained  staff  is  certain  to  lead  to  waste  and  ineffi- 
ciency. 

Practically  all  of  the  public  enterprises  for  vocational  educa- 
tion are  to-day  handicapped  by  the  absence  of  properly  trained 
teachers.  It  is  therefore  very  necessary  for  the  present  com- 
mission to  consider  two  essential  issues: 

First,  the  desirability  of  providing  direct  aid  for  the  training 
of  teachers  in  the  several  types  of  state  institutions — normal 
schools,  agricultural  colleges,  and  universities.  Provisions  will 
need  to  be  drawn  most  carefully  so  as  to  avoid  duplication  of 
effort  on  the  part  of  these  institutions,  and  any  conflict  of  insti- 
tutional interests;  second,  the  formation  of  conditions  whereby 
any  federal  funds  designed  for  the  support  of  vocational  edu- 
cation in  the  states  shall  be  expended  only  in  schools  staffed 
with  teachers  of  approved  training  and  competency.  The  ap- 
proval of  such  training  and  competency  should  be  left  with  some 
responsible  federal  authority. 


FEDERAL  AID  FOR  VOCATIONAL 
EDUCATION1 

(i)  In  presenting  this  memorandum  I  do  so  as  the  chairman 
of  a  committee  of  the  separate  state  universities ;  not  of  the  non- 
technical universities,  as  they  have  been  designated  by  members 
of  the  committee,  but  of  those  state  universities  that  do  not 
have  departments  of  agriculture.  There  are  20  of  these  state 

1  Statement  by  Edward  C.  Elliott,  Professor  of  Education  and  Director 
of  the  course  for  the  training  of  teachers,  University  of  Wisconsin,  on  be- 
half of  the   conference  of   the  Department  of  Education   in   state  colleges 
and  universities,  April  20,  1914. 

2  Statement   by   Franklin    B.    Dyer,    Superintendent    of   Public    Schools, 
Boston,  Mass.,  April  30,   1914. 


40  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

universities,  and,  having  a  real  experience  in  the  effects  and 
influence  of  federal  legislation  on  education,  they  feel  strongly 
that  legislation  by  the  federal  government  should  be  undertaken 
only  after  the  most  careful  review  of  all  the  problems  involved. 

(2)  The  presidents  of  these  state  universities  believe  in  vo- 
cational education  and  the  necessity  of  doing  much  in  that  di- 
rection.    Direct  appropriations  from  the  federal  government  to 
districts  and  school  bodies  would  mean  little  incentive  and  might 
mean  much  demoralization  because  of  the  inability  of  any  legis- 
lative body  to  make  rules  that  would  apply  equally  to  all  parts  of 
so  varied  a  country  as  this. 

(3)  The  amounts  appropriated,  while  large  in  the  aggregate, 
would  have  but  small  influence  upon  the  development  of  schools. 

The  problem  of  education  is  essentially  a  state  and  local 
problem.  There  is  no  reason  why  one  state  should  be  called  upon 
to  aid  another  state  in  the  work  of  education.  The  place  to 
solve  vocational  education  in  New  York  is  in  New  York,  and 
the  backwardness  of  the  communities  in  accepting  this  view  does 
not  justify  calling  on  the  federal  government. 

(4)  Moreover,  the  tendency  to  run  to  the  federal  treasury 
for  every  need,  and  in  the  case  of  financial  assistance  for  any 
movement  not  otherwise  provided  for,  must  be  viewed  with  alarm 
and  looked  upon  as  likely  in  the  long  run  to  mean  heavy  federal 
taxation  and  a  limitation  upon  the  fiscal  systems  of  the  individ- 
ual states.    Besides,  such  action  opens  the  door  to  any  and  every 
appeal  for  funds  which  may  be  as  fully  justified  in  one  instance 
as  another. 

(5)  The  advocates  of  this  form  of  subsidy  for  vocational 
education  will  fail  to  find  in  European  experience  any  support 
for    their   contention.      In    Germany   the   states,    municipalities, 
guilds,  and  merchant  associations  work  together  to  develop  vo- 
cational education  without  aid   from  the  imperial  government. 
Each  state  deals  with  its  problem  as  seems  wise  and  necessary. 
Thus,  one-half  to  two-thirds  of  the  cost  of  maintenance  of  such 
schools  are  provided  for  by  the  states,  but  the  buildings  are  con- 
structed  by  the  municipalities   and  the  balance  of  the   expense 
met  by  the  cities  and  the  merchant  and  guild  associations.    The 
proposal  to  appropriate  money  from  the  federal  treasury  on  the 
basis  of  population  makes  it  a   sectional   and   class   legislation 
proposal. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  41 

/.    //  there  is  to  be  federal  legislation  on  vocational  legislation* 
what  should  it  be? 

(1)  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  economy-of-time  problem 
is  unsolved  in  our  school  system,  there  is  in  reality  no  provision 
for  a  place  for  vocational  education.     In  the  European  systems 
of  education  the  vocational  training  has  a  place  in  the  system, 
but  with  our  system  of  eight  grades   and  four  years  of  high 
schools  the  vocational  training  has  no  opening  for  real  develop- 
ment. 

Here  at  once  is  a  real  difficulty  that  brings  the  problem  into 
the  realm  of  propaganda  and  necessitates  leadership  and  direc- 
tion. This  the  Bureau  of  Education  could  bring  about,  and 
without  such  reorganization  any  system  of  vocational  education 
must  languish.  Appropriations  for  investigations  and  encourage- 
ment of  real  progress  in  dealing  with  the  problem  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  Bureau  of  Education  would  be  most  helpful. 
This,  however,  is  a  distinctly  different  proposal  from  the  one 
made  to  appropriate  funds  from  federal  sources  for  direct  aid 
to  vocational  education  enterprises  in  the  different  states  on  the 
basis  of  population. 

(2)  In  addition,  the  utilization  of  the  state  departments  of 
education  under  the  general  supervision  of  the  federal  bureau, 
in  working  out  the  problem  of  vocational  education,  would  bring 
each  state  into  touch  and  at  the  same  time  place  the  work  under 
general  supervision  for  purposes  of  uniformity.     Such  sugges- 
tions aref  quite  out  of  line  with  the  proposal  that  federal  appro- 
priations should  be  made  to  schools  undertaking  certain  forms 
of  vocational  training,  but  they  are   fundamental  in  that  they 
deal  with  the  basis  of  a  vocational  educational  system  and  hold 
the  development  along  essentially  national  lines. 

///.     Conclusion 

(1)  It  is  therefore  hoped  that  the  commission  appointed  by 
the  joint  resolution  of  Congress  will  be  willing  to  see  the  crude- 
riess  of  any  legislation  that  merely  hands  out  money  to  separate 
states  to  engage  in  vocational  educational  enterprises. 

(2)  While  it  is  evident  that  a  number  of  years  must  pass 
in    developing    a    vocational    educational    system,    real    wisdom 
calls  for  leadership  and  a  constructive  program,  which  is  all  that 
the  federal  government  should  be  asked  to  contribute. 


42  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

(3)  The  result  can  be  brought  about  through  the  agency  of 
the  Bureau  of  Education  in  cooperation  with  the  state  depart- 
ments of  education  in  the  different  states,  and  all  the  benefit  of 
uniformity  and  incentive  to  the  movement  be  secured. 

FEDERAL  AID  FOR  VOCATIONAL 
EDUCATION1 

The  stimulus  afforded  by  national  grants  seems  to  be  abso- 
lutely necessary  in  order  to  place  the  importance  of  vocational 
educational  squarely  before  the  country. 

Again,  the  distribution  of  these  grants  upon  some  uniform 
condition  will  standardize  vocational  training  as  nothing  else 
could  and  prevent  waste  of  money  and  energy  in  experimenta- 
tion. 

Further,  the  value  of  industrial  efficiency  is  of  nation-wide 
importance  and  not  merely  local. 

The  order  in  which  the  different  forms  of  vocational  educa- 
tion should  be  associated  is  as  you  have  placed  it  in  your  list : 
First,  agricultural ;  second,  industrial ;  third,  commercial ;  fourth, 
home  economics.  I  should  place  the  training  of  teachers  ahead 
of  all  the  others,  however,  or,  at  least,  parallel  with  the  others. 
I  am  also  inclined  to  think  that  industrial  education  is  in  parallel 
with  agricultural  education  rather  than  beneath  it  in  importance. 
The  education  of  the  city  workman  should  be  looked  after  as 
well  as  the  country  workman. 

It  would  appear  to  me  that  the  Bureau  of  Education  is  the 
proper  institute  for  disseminating  information ;  at  least,  it  should 
be  in  one  distinct  department  to  prevent  confusion. 

I  think  that  grants  should  not  be  given  as  gratuities,  but  under 
condition  of  the  local  authorities  bearing  part,  at  least  half,  of 
the  burden  and  conditions  of  standardization  that  would  be  ap- 
proved by  the  national  government. 

In  granting  federal  aid  it  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  well  to 
begin  with  a  few  schools  which  should  be  developed  as  examples 
of  what  may  be  done,  and  then  extend  aid  upon  the  basis  of  the 
knowledge  gained  by  these  experiments. 

There  is  no  doubt  of  the  propriety  of  the  government  desig- 
nating in  extreme  detail  the  way  in  which  money  shall  be  ex- 
pended, but  I  do  believe  that  there  should  be  clearly  denned 
restrictions  and  standards  set  up. 

1  Statement  by  Frank  L.  M'Vey,  President  University  of  North  Dakota, 
May  6,  1914, 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  YOUTH  AND  INDUSTRY1 

As  it  is  possible  to  establish  a  connection  between  the  lack 
of  public  recreation  and  the  vicious  excitements  and  trivial 
amusements  which  become  their  substitutes,  so  it  may  be  illu- 
minating to  trace  the  connection  between  the  monotony  and  dull- 
ness of  factory  work  and  the  petty  immoralities  which  are  often 
the  youth's  protest  against  them. 

There  are  many  city  neighborhoods  in  which  practically  every 
young  person  who  has  attained  the  age  of  fourteen  years  enters 
a  factory.  When  the  work  itself  offers  nothing  of  interest,  and 
when  no  public  provision  is  made  for  recreation,  the  situation 
becomes  almost  insupportable  to  the  youth  whose  ancestors  have 
been  rough-working  and  hard-playing  peasants. 

In  such  neighborhoods  the  joy  of  youth  is  well  nigh  extin- 
guished; and  in  that  long  procession  of  factory  workers,  each 
morning  and  evening,  the  young  walk  almost  as  wearily  and  list- 
lessly as  the  old.  Young  people  working  in  modern  factories 
situated  in  cities  still  dominated  by  the  ideals  of  Puritanism  face 
a  combination  which  tends  almost  irresistibly  to  overwhelm  the 
spirit  of  youth.  When  the  Puritan  repression  of  pleasure  was 
in  the  ascendant  in  America  the  people  it  dealt  with  lived  on 
farms  and  villages  where,  although  youthful  pleasures  might  be 
frowned  upon  and  crushed  out,  the  young  people  still  had  a 
chance  to  find  self-expression  in  their  work.  Plowing  the  field 
and  spinning  the  flax  could  be  carried  on  with  a  certain  joyous- 
ness  and  vigor  which  the  organization  of  modern  industry  too 
often  precludes.  Present  industry  based  upon  the  inventions  of 
the  nineteenth  century  has  little  connection  with  the  old  patterns 
in  which  men  have  worked  for  generations.  The  modern  factory 
calls  for  an  expenditure  of  nervous  energy  almost  mor?  than  it 
demands  muscular  effort,  or  at  least  machinery  so  far  performs 

1From  "Spirit  of  Youth  and  the  City  Streets,"  Chapter  V.,  by  Jane 
Addams.  Copyright  1909  by  The  Macmillan  Co.  Reprinted  with  the  kind 
permission  of  the  publishers. 


44  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

the  work  of  thr,  massive  muscles,  that  greater  stress  is  laid  upon 
fine  and  exact  movements  necessarily  involving  nervous  strain. 
But  these  movements  are  exactly  of  the  type  to  which  the  muscles 
of  a  growing  boy  least  readily  respond,  quite  as  the  admonition 
to  be  accurate  and  faithful  is  that  which  appeals  the  least  to  his 
big  primitive  emotions.  The  demands  made  upon  his  eyes  are 
complicated  and  trivial,  the  use  of  his  muscles  is  fussy  and 
monotonous,  the  relation  between  cause  and  effect  is  remote  and 
obscure.  Apparently  no  one  is  concerned  as  to  what  may  be  done 
to  aid  him  in  this  process  and  to  relieve  it  of  its  dullness  and  diffi- 
culty, to  mitigate  its  strain  and  harshness. 

Perhaps  never  before  have  young  people  been  expected  to 
work  from  motives  so  detached  from  direct  emotional  incentive. 
Never  has  the  age  of  marriage  been  so  long  delayed;  never  has 
the  work  of  youth  been  so  separated  from  the  family  life  and 
the  public  opinion  of  the  community.  Education  alone  can  repair 
these  loses.  It  alone  has  the  power  of  organizing  a  child's  ac- 
tivities with  some  reference  to  the  life  he  will  later  lead  and  of 
giving  him  a  clue  as  to  what  to  select  and  what  to  eliminate 
when  he  comes  into  contact  with  contemporary  social  and  indus- 
trial conditions.  And  until  educators  take  hold  of  the  situation, 
the  rest  of  the  community  is  powerless. 

In  vast  regions  of  the  city  which  are  completely  dominated 
by  the  factory,  it  is  as  if  the  development  of  industry  had  out- 
'run  all  the  educational  and  social  arrangements. 

The  revolt  of  youth  against  uniformity  and  the  necessity  of 
following  careful  directions  laid  down  by  some  one  else,  many 
times  results  in  such  nervous  irritability  that  the  youth,  in  spite 
of  all  sorts  of  prudential  reasons,  "throws  up  his  job,"  if  only  to 
get  outside  the  factory  walls  into  the  freer  street,  just  as  the 
narrowness  of  the  school  inclosure  induces  many  a  boy  to  jump 
the  fence. 

When  the  boy  is  on  the  street,  however,  and  is  "standing 
around  on  the  corner"  with  the  gang  to  which  he  mysteriously 
attaches  himself,  he  finds  the  difficulties  of  direct  untrammeled 
action  almost  as  great  there  as  they  were  in  the  factory,  but  for 
an  entirely  different  set  of  reasons.  The  necessity  so  strongly 
felt  in  the  factory  for  an  outlet  to  his  sudden  and  furious  bursts 
of  energy,  his  overmastering  desire  to  prove  that  he  could  do 
things  "without  being  bossed  all  the  time,"  finds  little  chance  for 
expression,  for  he  discovers  that  in  whatever  really  active  pur- 
suit he  tries  to  engage,  he  is  promptly  suppressed  by  the  police. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  45 

After  several  futile  attempts  at  self-expression,  he  returns  to  his 
street  corner  subdued  and  so  far  discouraged  that  when  he  has 
the  next  impulse  to  vigorous  action  he  concludes  that  it  is  of  no 
use,  and  sullenly  settles  back  into  inactivity.  He  thus  learns  to 
persuade  himself  that  it  is  better  to  do  nothing,  or,  as  the  psy- 
chologist would  say,  "to  inhibit  his  motor  impulses." 

When  the  same  boy,  as  an  adult  workman,  finds  himself  con- 
fronted with  an  unusual  or  an  untoward  condition  in  his  work,  he 
will  fall  back  into  this  habit  of  inhibition,  of  making  no  effort 
toward  independent  action.  When  "slack  times"  comes,  he  will 
be  the  workman  of  least  value,  and  the  first  to  be  dismissed, 
calmly  accepting  his  position  in  the  ranks  of  the  unemployed 
because  it  will  not  be  so  unlike  the  many  hours  of  idleness  and 
vacuity  to  which  he  was  accustomed  as  a  boy.  No  help  having 
been  extended  him  in  the  moment  of  his  first  irritable  revolt 
against  industry,  his  whole  life  has  been  given  a  twist  toward 
idleness  and  futility.  He  has  not  had  the  chance  of  recovery 
which  the  school  system  gives  a  like  rebellious  boy  in  a  truant 
school. 

The  unjustifiable  lack  of  educational  supervision  during  the 
first  years  of  factory  work  makes  it  quite  impossible  for  the 
modern  educator  to  offer  any  real  assistance  to  young  people 
during  that  trying  transitional  period  between  school  and  indus- 
try. The  young  people  themselves  who  fail  to  conform  can  do 
little  but  rebel  against  the  entire  situation,  and  the  expressions 
of  revolt  roughly  divide  themselves  into  three  classes.  The  first, 
resulting  in  idleness,  may  be  illustrated  from  many  a  sad  story 
of  a  boy  or  girl  who  has  spent  in  the  first  spurt  of  premature  and 
uninteresting  work,  all  the  energy  which  should  have  carried 
them  through  years  of  steady  endeavor. 

This  revolt  against  factory  monotony  is  sometimes  closely 
allied  to  that  "moral  fatigue"  which  results  from  assuming  re- 
sponsibility prematurely. 

The  second  line  of  revolt  manifests  itself  in  an  attempt  to 
make  up  for  the  monotony  of  the  work  by  a  constant  change 
from  one  occupation  to  another.  This  is  an  almost  universal  ex- 
perience among  thousands  of  young  people  in  their  first  impact 
with  the  industrial  world. 

The  startling  results  of  the  investigation  undertaken  in  Massa- 
chusetts by  the  Douglas  Commission  showed  how  casual  and  de- 
moralizing the  first  few  years  of  factory  life  become  to  thou- 
sands of  unprepared  boys  and  girls ;  in  their  first  restlessness  and 


46  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

maladjustment  they  change  from  one  factory  to  another,  working 
only  for  a  few  weeks  or  months  in  each,  and  they  exhibit  no 
interest  in  any  of  them  save  for  the  amount  of  wages  paid.  At 
the  end  of  their  second  year  of  employment  many  of  them  are 
less  capable  than  when  they  left  school  and  are  actually  receiving 
less  wages.  The  report  of  the  commission  made  clear  that  while 
the  two  years  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  were  most  valuable 
for  educational  purposes,  they  were  almost  useless  for  industrial 
purposes,  that  no  trade  would  receive  as  an  apprentice  a  boy  under 
sixteen,  that  no  industry  requiring  skill  and  workmanship  could 
utilize  these  untrained  children  and  that  they  not  only  demoral- 
ized themselves,  but  in  a  sense  industry  itself. 

An  investigation  of  one  thousand  tenement  children  in  New 
York  who  had  taken  out  their  "working  papers"  at  the  age  of 
fourteen,  reported  that  during  the  first  working  year  a  third  of 
them  had  averaged  six  places  each.  These  reports  but  confirm  the 
experience  of  those  of  us  who  live  in  an  industrial  neighborhood 
and  who  continually  see  these  restless  young  workers,  in  fact 
there  are  moments  when  this  constant  changing  seems  to  be  all 
that  saves  them  from  the  fate  of  those  other  children  who  hold 
on  to  a  monotonous  task  so  long  that  they  finally  incapacitate 
themselves  for  all  work.  It  often  seems  to  me  an  expression  of 
the  instinct  of  self-preservation,  as  in  the  case  of  a  young  Swedish 
boy  who  during  a  period  of  two  years  abandoned  one  piece  of 
factory  work  after  another,  saying  "he  could  not  stand  it,"  until 
in  the  chagrin  following  the  loss  of  his  ninth  place  he  announced 
his  intention  of  leaving  the  city  and  allowing  his  mother  and  little 
sisters  to  shift  for  themselves.  At  this  critical  juncture  a  place 
was  found  for  him  as  lineman  in  a  telephone  company;  climbing 
telephone  poles  and  handling  wires  apparently  supplied  him  with 
the  elements  of  outdoor  activity  and  danger  which  was  necessary 
to  hold  his  interest,  and  he  became  the  steady  support  of  his 
family. 

But  while  we  know  the  discouraging  effect  ot  idleness  upon 
Jie  boy  who  has  thrown  up  his  ;ob  and  refuses  to  work  again, 
and  we  also  know  the  restlessness  and  lack  of  discipline  resulting 
from  the  constant  change  from  one  factory  to  another,  there  is 
still  a  third  manifestation  of  maladjustment  of  which  one's  mem- 
ory and  the  Juvenile  Court  records  unfortunately  furnish  many 
examples.  The  spirit  of  revolt  in  these  cases  has  led  to  distinct 
disaster. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  47 

Knowing  as  educators  do  that  thousands  of  the  city  youth 
will  enter  factory  life  at  an  age  as  early  as  the  state  law  will  per- 
mit; instructed  as  the  modern  teacher  is  as  to  youth's  require- 
ments for  a  normal  mental  and  muscular  development,  it  is  hard 
to  understand  the  apathy  in  regard  to  youth's  inevitable  experi- 
ence in  modern  industry.  Are  the  educators,  like  the  rest  of  us,  so 
caught  in  admiration  of  the  astonishing  achievements  of  modern 
industry  that  they  forget  the  children  themselves? 

A  Scotch  educator  who  recently  visited  America  considered 
it  very  strange  that  with  a  remarkable  industrial  development  all 
about  us,  affording  such  amazing  educational  opportunities,  our 
schools  should  continually  cling  to  a  past  which  did  not  fit  the 
American  temperament,  was  not  adapted  to  our  needs,  and  made 
no  vigorous  pull  upon  our  faculties.  He  concluded  that  our  edu- 
cators, overwhelmed  by  the  size  and  vigor  of  American  industry, 
were  too  timid  to  seize  upon  the  industrial  situation  and  to  ex- 
tract its  enormous  educational  value.  He  lamented  that  this  lack 
of  courage  and  initiative  failed  not  only  to  fit  the  child  for  an 
intelligent  and  conscious  participation  in  industrial  life,  but  that 
it  was  reflected  in  the  industrial  development  itself ;  that  industry 
had  fallen  back  into  old  habits,  and  repeated  traditional  mistakes 
until  American  cities  exhibited  stupendous  extensions  of  the 
medievalisms  in  the  traditional  Ghetto,  and  of  the  hideousness  in 
the  Black  Country  of  Lancashire. 

He  contended  that  this  condition  is  the  inevitable  result  of 
separating  education  from  contemporary  life.  Education  becomes 
unreal  and  far  fetched,  while  industry  becomes  ruthless  and  ma- 
terialistic. In  spite  of  the  severity  of  the  indictment,  one  much 
more  severe  and  well  deserved  might  have  been  brought  against 
us.  He  might  have  accused  us  not  only  of  wasting,  but  of  mis- 
using and  of  trampling  under  foot  the  first  tender  instincts  and 
impulses  which  are  the  source  of  all  charm  and  beauty  and  art, 
because  we  fail  to  realize  that  by  premature  factory  work,  for 
which  the  youth  is  unprepared,  society  perpetually  extinguishes 
that  variety  and  promise,  that  bloom  of  life,  which  is  the  unique 
possession  of  the  young.  He  might  have  told  us  that  our  cities 
would  continue  to  be  traditionally  cramped  and  dreary  until  we 
comprehend  that  youth  alone  has  the  power  to  bring  to  reality 
the  vision  of  the  "Coming  City  of  Mankind,  full  of  life,  full  of 
the  spirit  of  creation." 

A  few  educational  experiments  are  carried  on  in  Cincinnati, 


48  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

in  Boston  and  in  Chicago,  in  which  the  leaders  of  education  and 
industry  unite  in  a  common  aim  and  purpose.  A  few  more  are 
carried  on  by  trade  unionists,  who  in  at  least  two  of  the  trades 
are  anxious  to  give  to  their  apprentices  and  journeymen  the  wider 
culture  afforded  by  the  "capitalistic  trade  schools"  which  they 
suspect  of  preparing  strike-breakers;  still  a  few  other  schools 
have  been  founded  by  public  spirited  citizens  to  whom  the  situa- 
tion has  become  unendurable,  and  one  or  two  more  such  experi- 
ments are  attached  to  the  public  school  system  itself.  All  of  these 
schools  are  still  blundering  in  method  and  unsatisfactory  in  their 
results,  but  a  certain  trade  school  for  girls,  in  New  York,  which 
is  preparing  young  girls  of  fourteen  for  the  sewing  trade,  already 
so  overcrowded  and  subdivided  that  there  remains  very  little  edu- 
cation for  the  worker,  is  conquering  this  difficult  industrial  situ- 
ation by  equipping  each  apprentice  with  "the  informing  mind." 
If  a  child  goes  into  a  sewing  factory  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
work  she  is  doing  in  relation  to  the  finished  product;  if  she  is 
informed  concerning  the  material  she  is  manipulating  and  the 
processes  to  which  it  is  subjected;  if  she  understands  the  design 
she  is  elaborating  in  its  historic  relation  to  art  and  decoration, 
her  daily  life  is  lifted  from  drudgery  to  one  of  self-conscious 
activity,  and  her  pleasure  and  intelligence  is  registered  in  her 
product. 

I  remember  a  little  colored  girl  in  this  New  York  school  who 
was  drawing  for  the  pattern  she  was  about  to  embroider,  a  care- 
fully elaborated  acanthus  leaf.  Upon  my  inquiry  as  to  the  design, 
she  replied :  "It  is  what  the  Egyptians  used  to  put  on  everything, 
because  they  saw  it  so  much  growing  in  the  Nile;  and  then  the 
Greeks  copied  it,  and  sometimes  you  can  find  it  now  on  the  build- 
ings downtown."  She  added  shyly:  "Of  course,  I  like  it  awfully 
well  because  it  was  first  used  by  people  living  in  Africa  where 
the  colored  folks  come  from."  Such  a  reasonable  interest  in  work 
not  only  reacts  upon  the  worker,  but  is,  of  course,  registered  in 
the  product  itself. 

If  educators  could  go  upon  a  voyage  of  discovery  into  that 
army  of  boys  and  girls  who  enter  industry  each  year,  what 
values  might  they  not  discover;  what  treasures  might  they  not 
conserve  and  develop  if  they  would  direct  the  play  instinct  into 
the  art  impulse  and  utilize  that  power  of  variation  which  industry 
so  sadly  needs.  No  force  will  be  sufficiently  powerful  and  wide- 
spread to  redeem  industry  from  its  mechanism  and  materialism 
save  the  freed  power  in  every  single  individual. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  49 

In  order  to  do  this,  however,  we  must  go  back  a  little  over  the 
educational  road  to  a  training  of  the  child's  imagination,  as  well 
as  to  his  careful  equipment  with  a  technique.  A  little  child  makes 
a  very  tottering  house  of  cardboard  and  calls  it  a  castle.  The  im- 
portant feature  there  lies  in  the  fact  that  he  has  expressed  a 
castle,  and  it  is  not  for  his  teacher  to  draw  undue  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  corners  are  not  well  put  together,  but  rather  to 
listen  to  and  to  direct  the  story  which  centers  about  this  effort 
at  creative  expression.  A  little  later,  however,  it  is  clearly  the 
business  of  the  teacher  to  call  attention  to  the  quality  of  the  dove- 
tailing in  which  the  boy  at  the  manual  training  bench  is  engaged, 
for  there  is  no  value  in  dovetailing  a  box  unless  it  is  accurately 
done.  At  one  point  the  child's  imagination  is  to  be  emphasized, 
and  at  another  point  his  technique  is  important — and  he  will  need 
both  in  the  industrial  life  ahead  of  him. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  there  is  a  third  period,  when  the  boy 
is  not  interested  in  the  making  of  a  castle,  or  a  box,  or  anything 
else ;  unless  it  appears  to  him  to  bear  a  direct  relation  to  the 
future ;  unless  it  has  something  to  do  with  earning  a  living.  At 
this  later  moment  he  is  chiefly  anxious  to  play  the  part  of  a  man 
and  to  take  his  place  in  the  world.  The  fact  that  a  boy  at  four- 
teen wants  to  go  out  and  make  his  living  makes  that  the  moment 
when  he  should  be  educated  with  reference  to  that  interest,  and 
the  records  of  many  high  schools  show  that  if  he  is  not  thus  edu- 
cated, he  bluntly  refuses  to  be  educated  at  all.  The  forces  pulling 
him  to  "work"  are  not  only  the  overmastering  desire  to  earn 
money  and  be  a  man,  but,  if  the  family  purse  is  small  and  empty, 
include  also  his  family  loyalty  and  affection,  and  over  against 
them,  we  at  present  place  nothing  but  a  vague  belief  on  the  part 
of  his  family  and  himself  that  education  is  a  desirable  thing  and 
may  eventually  help  him  "on  in  the  world."  It  is  of  course  diffi- 
cult to  adapt  education  to  this  need;  it  means  that  education 
must  be  planned  so  seriously  and  definitely  for  those  two  years 
between  fourteen  and  sixteen  that  it  will  be  actual  trade  training 
so  far  as  it  goes,  with  attention  given  to  the  condition  under 
which  the  money  will  be  actually  paid  for  industrial  skill ;  but  at 
the  same  time,  that  the  implications,  the  connections,  the  relations 
to  the  industrial  world,  will  be  made  clear.  A  man  who  makes, 
year  after  year,  but  one  small  wheel  in  a  modern  watch  factory, 
may,  if  his  education  has  properly  prepared  him,  have  a  fuller 
life  than  did  the  old  watch-maker  who  made  a  watch  from  begin- 
ning to  end.  It  takes  thirty-nine  people  to  make  a  coat  in  a 


50  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

modern  tailoring  establishment,  yet  those  same  thirty-nine  peo- 
ple might  produce  a  coat  in  a  spirit  of  "team  work"  which  would 
make  the  entire  process  as  much  more  exhilarating  than  the  work 
of  the  old  solitary  tailor,  as  playing  in  a  baseball  nine  gives  more 
pleasure  to  a  boy  than  that  afforded  by  a  solitary  game  of  hand 
ball  on  the  side  of  the  barn.  But  is  is  quite  impossible  to  imagine 
a  successful  game  of  baseball  in  which  each  player  should  be 
drilled  only  in  his  own  part,  and  should  know  nothing  of  the 
relation  of  that  part  to  the  whole  game.  In  order  to  make  the 
watch  wheel,  or  the  coat  collar  interesting,  they  must  be  con- 
nected with  the  entire  product — must  include  fellowship  as  well 
as  the  pleasures  arising  from  skilled  workmanship  and  a  culti- 
vated imagination. 

When  all  the  young  people  working  in  factories  shall  come 
to  use  their  faculties  intelligently,  and  as  a  matter  of  course  to  be 
interested  in  what  they  do,  then  our  manufactured  products  may 
at  last  meet  the  demands  of  a  cultivated  nation,  because  they  will 
be  produced  by  cultivated  workmen.  The  machine  will  not  be 
abandoned  by  any  means,  but  will  be  subordinated  to  the  intel- 
ligence of  the  man  who  manipulates  it,  and  will  be  used  as  a  tool. 
It  may  come  about  in  time  that  an  educated  public  will  become 
inexpressibly  bored  by  manufactured  objects  which  reflect  abso- 
lutely nothing  of  the  minds  of  men  who  made  them,  that  they 
may  come  to  dislike  an  object  made  by  twelve  unrelated  men, 
even  as  we  do  not  care  for  a  picture  which  has  been  painted  by 
a  dozen  different  men,  not  because  we  have  enunciated  a  theory 
in  regard  to  it,  but  because  such  a  picture  loses  all  its  significance 
and  has  no  meaning  or  message.  We  need  to  apply  the  same 
principle  but  very  little  further  until  we  shall  refuse  to  be  sur- 
rounded by  manufactured  objects  which  do  not  represent  some 
gleam  of  intelligence  on  the  part  of  the  producer.  Hundreds  of 
people  have  already  taken  that  step  so  far  as  all  decoration  and 
ornament  are  concerned,  and  it  would  require  but  one  short  step 
more.  In  the  meantime  we  are  surrounded  by  stupid  articles 
which  give  us  no  pleasure,  and  the  young  people  producing  them 
are  driven  into  all  sorts  of  expedients  in  order  to  escape  work 
which  has  been  made  impossible  because  all  human  interest  has 
been  extracted  from  it.  That  this  is  not  mere  theory  may  be 
demonstrated  by  the  facts  that  many  times  the  young  people  may 
be  spared  the  disastrous  effects  of  this  third  revolt  against  the 
monotony  of  industry  if  work  can  be  found  for  them  in  a  place 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  51 

where  the  daily  round  is  less  grinding  and  presents  more  variety. 
Fortunately,  in  every  city  there  are  places  outside  of  factories 
where  occupation  of  a  more  normal  type  of  labor  may  be  secured, 
and  often  a  restless  boy  can  be  tided  over  this  period  if  he  is  put 
into  one  of  these  occupations.  The  experience  in  every  boys'  club 
can  furnish  illustrations  of  this. 

A  factory  boy  who  had  been  brought  into  the  Juvenile  Court 
many  times  because  of  his  persistent  habit  of  borrowing  the 
vehicles  of  physicians  as  they  stood  in  front  of  houses  of  patients, 
always  meaning  to  "get  back  before  the  doctor  came  out,"  led  a 
contented  and  orderly  life  after  a  place  had  been  found  for  him 
as  a  stable  boy  in  a  large  livery  establishment  where  his  love  for 
horses  could  be  legitimately  gratified. 

America  perhaps  more  than  any  other  country  in  the  world 
can  demonstrate  what  applied  science  has  accomplished  for  in- 
dustry; it  has  not  only  made  possible  the  utilization  of  all  sorts 
of  unpromising  raw  material,  but  it  has  tremendously  increased 
the  invention  and  elaboration  of  machinery.  The  time  must  come, 
however,  if  indeed  the  moment  has  not  already  arrived,  when  ap- 
plied science  will  have  done  all  that  it  can  for  the  development  of 
machinery.  It  may  be  that  machines  cannot  be  speeded  up  any 
further  without  putting  unwarranted  strain  upon  the  nervous 
system  of  the  worker;  it  may  be  that  further  elaboration  will  so 
sacrifice  the  workman  who  feeds  the  machine  that  industrial  ad- 
vance will  lie  not  in  the  direction  of  improvement  in  machinery, 
but  in  the  recovery  and  education  of  the  workman.  This  refusal 
to  apply  "the  art  of  life"  to  industry  continually  drives  out  of  it 
many  promising  young  people.  Some  of  them,  impelled  by  a 
creative  impulse  which  will  not  be  denied,  avoid  industry  alto- 
gether and  demand  that  their  ambitious  parents  give  them  lessons 
in  "china  painting"  and  "art  work",  which  clutters  the  over- 
crowded parlor  of  the  more  prosperous  workingman's  home  with 
useless  decorated  plates,  and  handpainted  "drapes,"  whereas  the 
plates  upon  the  table  and  the  rugs  upon  the  floor  used  daily  by 
thousands  of  weary  housewives  are  totally  untouched  by  the 
beauty  and  variety  which  this  ill-directed  art  instinct  might  have 
given  them  had  it  been  incorporated  into  industry. 

Educators  are  thus  gradually  developing  the  courage  and 
initiative  to  conserve  for  industry  the  young  worker  himself  so 
that  his  mind,  his  power  of  variation  his  art  instinct,  his  intel- 
ligent skill,  may  ultimately  be  reflected  in  the  industrial  product. 


52  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

That  would  imply  that  industry  must  be  seized  upon  and  con- 
quered by  those  educators,  who  now  either  avoid  it  altogether  by 
taking  refuge  in  the  caves  of  classic  learning  or  beg  the  question 
by  teaching  the  tool  industry  advocated  by  Ruskin  and  Morris 
in  their  first  reaction  against  the  present  industrial  system.  It 
would  mean  that  educators  must  bring  industry  into  "the  king- 
dom of  the  mind" ;  and  pervade  it  with  the  human  spirit. 

The  discovery  of  the  labor  power  of  youth  was  to  our  age  like 
the  discovery  of  a  new  natural  resource,  although  it  was  merely 
incidental  to  the  invention  of  modern  machinery  and  the  conse- 
quent subdivision  of  labor.  In  utilizing  it  thus  ruthlessly  we  are 
not  only  in  danger  of  quenching  the  divine  fire  of  youth,  but  we 
are  imperiling  industry  itself  when  we  venture  to  ignore  these 
very  sources  of  beauty,  of  variety  and  of  suggestion. 


THE  DANGER  OF  UNSKILL1 

Two  human  streams  pour  ceaselessly  into  the  sea  of  American 
industry.  One  of  these  brings  to  us  the  immigrant,  the  man  of 
foreign  stock,  alien  in  blood  and  customs,  and  more  and  more 
from  the  backward  and  "beaten"  peoples  of  eastern  Europe.  The 
sources  of  the  other  stream  are  in  our  own  life,  and  upon  it  are 
borne  America's  own  children  who,  in  the  passing  of  years,  are 
to  face  the  duties  of  manhood  and  womanhood.  These  two 
streams  fill  the  vast  national  reservoir  of  labor  upon  which  de- 
pends in  large  measure  the  future  of  American  industry  and 
American  moral  welfare.  This  is  the  first  fact  to  which  attention 
is  directed. 

The  second  fact  is  the  changing  character  of  industry,  aside 
from  its  human  element.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
mechanical  revolution  whose  beginning  in  America  goes  back  to 
the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  which  since  the  civil 
war  has  been  uprooting  the  old  order,  supplanting  its  simpler 
methods  with  marvelous  rapidity  and  tremendous  power. 

The  human  consequence  of  this  revolution  is  the  driving  out 
of  the  man  by  the  machine,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  increasing 
specialization  of  labor  on  the  other.  And  the  labor  supplanted 
by  the  machine,  if  it  is  to  fit  into  the  resulting  more  specialized 

1  By  Walter  G.  Beach.  Popular  Science  Monthly.  37:178-86.  August,  1910. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  53 

employments,  must  have  skill.  Primitive  man  was  unspecialized 
and  his  skill  was  of  the  slightest,  his  knowledge  being  insignif- 
icant. The  man  of  to-day  finds  that  sheer  muscle  is  at  a  discount, 
and  his  weaker  but  better  trained  fellow  passes  him  in  the  race. 
It  is  not  meant  that  there  is  not  a  great  demand  for  usnkilled 
labor,  but  the  unskilled  laborer  works  under  a  constantly  growing 
handicap. 

In  our  earlier  national  history,  it  was  possible  for  us  to  rely 
for  prosperity  upon  the  resources  of  nature.  Force  of  body  and 
character  sufficient  to  brave  the  hardships  of  a  raw  and  untrained 
world,  and  to  pluck  from  nature  the  bounties  which  she  furnished 
in  abundance,  was  the  qur.lity  most  essential.  Each  man  or  fam- 
ily was  a  unit  in  production;  cooperation  or  combination  on  any 
extended  scale  involving  training,  was  not  found  or  needed.  In- 
dividualism and  the  overthrow  of  nature,  and  her  exploitation, 
were  the  important  features  of  our  national  life  which  assured 
success;  and  it  was  just  these  qualities  of  endurance,  courage 
force,  assertiveness,  aided  by  sheer  muscle,  which  the  selective 
process  of  our  early  immigration  brought  to  us.  Only  men  and 
*romen  of  such  qualities  could  and  would  face  the  long  and 
dreary  sea  voyage  and  brave  the  peril  of  the  unknown  new  world. 
Only  the  man  of  hope,  of  ambition,  poor  in  the  wealth  of  the 
world,  but  rich  in  determination,  force  and  foresight,  was  suited 
for  such  migration.  So  too,  it  often  was  the  leader  of  the  ad- 
vance movement  of  civilization  in  Europe  who,  because  of  polit- 
ical oppression,  led  a  vanguard  of  the  best  blood  of  his  country 
to  share  the  bounties  of  nature  in  America. 

But  the  day  in  which  we  can  rely  for  prosperity  upon  nature's 
bounty  is  past.  Her  resources  have  been  explored  and  divided  up. 
And  while  new  resources  continue  to  be  brought  to  light,  they  are 
the  possession  of  the  few,  and  offer  little  of  hope  to  the  hungry 
immigrant  from  the  old  world. 

We  can  not,  therefore  depend  exclusively  upon  nature  and 
the  raw  force  and  determination  of  our  people  to  maintain  or 
continue  the  oldtime  progress  and  high  position  of  America. 
More  and  more  our  dependence  must  be  placed  upon  ourselves 
rather  than  upon  nature  alone,  and  in  particular  upon  a  character 
acquired  through  training.  The  new  industrial  life,  it  has  been 
said,  demands  skill.  If  America  is  to  advance  in  industry,  she 
must  face  this  demand;  her  people  must  be  trained  and  trained 
industrially. 


54  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

If  such  is  a  true  statement  of  the  general  character  of  the  pro- 
ductive process  of  to-day,  it  is  pertinent  to  inquire  if  the  two 
streams  of  humanity,  which  furnished  the  labor  necessary  to  pro- 
duction, are  fitted  to  the  more  specialized  demands  of  this  proc- 
cess.  Is  our  labor  skilled?  And  what  are  its  means  of  attaining 
skill? 

Let  us  consider  first  the  stream  of  immigration.  The  report 
of  the  commissioner  general  of  immigration  for  1907  shows  that 
out  of  the  total  number  of  1,285,000  coming  to  this  country  from 
other  parts  of  the  world  in  the  year  1906,  about  eighty-three  per 
cent  were  without  skill  requisite  to  enter  a  skilled  industry.  If 
we  eliminate  from  this  number  the  women,  children,  aged  and 
such  other  persons  as  are  described  as  having  no  occupation  at 
all,  there  remains  fifty-nine  per  cent  of  the  total  who  are  of  indus- 
trial age  and  sex  and  yet  are  distinctly  unskilled  laborers.  A 
large  number,  too,  of  those  excluded  are  women  who  will  enter 
unskilled  trades,  and  many  are  children  who  will  begin  to  earn 
at  the  earliest  possible  time  in  unskilled  employments. 

The  fact  that  such  a  large  proportion  of  the  immigrant  popu- 
lation is  unskilled  is  inevitable.  It  is  necessary  only  to  recall  that 
the  great  influx  of  the  present  and  recent  past  is  from  central  and 
southern  Europe,  from  regions  in  which  the  opportunity  to  ac- 
quire skill  is  comparatively  slight,  and  where  the  call  for  skill  is 
not  yet  dominant. 

If  it  be  agreed,  then,  that  the  stream  of  immigration  is  pour- 
ing a  mass  of  unskilled  labor  into  our  country,  consider  what  is 
the  case  in  regard  to  the  second  source  of  our  industrial  life. 
What  is  the  tendency  to  skill  and  the  opportunity  to  acquire  it 
among  our  own  children  who  must  soon  enter  industry?  It  is  im- 
possible to  state  this  problem  in  a  statistical  fashion;  but  a  fair 
idea  may  be  obtained  from  a  study  of  the  industrial  situation. 
Skill  may  be  gained  through  two,  and  only  two,  methods.  It 
must  come  either  in  connection  with  industry  itself  or  in  some 
way  of  preparation  outside  it ;  either  through  a  system  of  appren- 
ticeship or  by  way  of  vocational  schools  or  school  studies.  In  the 
older  state  of  industry,  the  apprentice  system  of  the  guilds  con- 
stituted a  logical  and  efficient  method  of  training.  Boys  became 
skilled  workers  under  direction  of  a  master  and  in  the  actual 
work  of  production.  The  apprentice  system  was  the  great  indus- 
trial school  of  the  past,  and  not  only  because  it  led  to  industrial 
skill,  but  also  because  it  gave  at  least  something  of  that  mental 
discipline  and  power  which  we  associate  with  the  idea  of  a  school. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  55 

This  system,  as  is  well  known,  is  largely  a  thing  of  the  past. 
It  is  true  that  apprentices  are  now  received  in  some  industrial 
plants,  but  the  number  so  received  is  entirely  inadequate  to  fur- 
nish a  supply  of  skilled  labor  for  the  many  lines  of  trade  and 
industry.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  the  modern  factory  with  its 
great  specialization,  is  not  as  a  rule,  willing  to  train  its  skilled 
workers.  It  wishes  its  workers  to  come  to  it  already  skilled. 

If  training  can  not  be  gained  as  a  part  of  the  actual  productive 
process,  may  it  be  acquired  outside  that  process?  Or,  to  state  it 
differently,  does  our  school  system  give  the  members  of  the  grow- 
ing generation  a  training  which  fits  them  to  enter  the  industrial 
life  as  skilled  workers? 

We  have  in  this  country  a  considerable  and  growing  number 
of  trade  schools  and  technical  schools.  We  also  find  evening 
schools  where  vocational  training  may  be  obtained ;  and  there  are 
other  opportunities  of  a  similar  sort.  But  it  is  not  necessary  to 
prove  that  there  is  but  a  scant  beginning  in  this  direction,  as  this 
is  admitted  by  all  students  of  the  subject.  It  is  clear  that  our 
present  means  of  training  for  trade  and  industry  through  special 
schools  is  entirely  inadequate,  and  it  is  equally  well  admitted  that 
our  common  school  system  does  not  meet  the  need  in  this  direc- 
tion. Its  curriculum  has  been  determined  by  other  interests  than 
the  economic  needs  of  a  constantly  increasing  industrial  popu- 
lation. 

In  the  excellent  study  by  Professor  Thorndike,1  based  upon 
returns  from  schools  of  twenty-three  cities  having  a  population 
of  25,000  or  more,  it  is  demonstrated  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  lack 
of  opportunity  for  vocational  training  is  a  great  cause  of  that 
heavy  dropping  out  of  school  in  early  grades  which  thereby  closes 
school  education  to  a  large  portion  of  our  children.  Dr.  Thorn- 
dike  finds  that  only  twenty-seven  per  cent  of  those  entering  the 
first  grade  of  the  common  school  continue  into  the  first  year  of 
the  high  school;  and  of  these,  thirty-seven  per  cent  drop  out  by 
the  end  of  the  first  high-school  year.  The  main  cause  of  this 
enormous  elimination  from  the  high  school  has  to  do  with  the 
nature  of  the  high-school  course  of  study.  Evidently  a  consid- 
erable number  begin  the  high  school  at  the  age  of  fourteen  or 
fifteen,  an  age  at  which  little  skill  has  been  gained,  yet  which  is 
favorable  to  its  acquisition,  but  are  discouraged  by  the  lack  of 
opportunity  in  this  direction  and  so  leave  school  altogether.8 

l"The  Elimination  of  Pupils  from  School,"  p.  118  ff. 

8  See  Ayres,  "Laggards  in  our  schools"  for  different  percentages. — E.  R. 


56  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

As  is  well  known,  it  was  found  by  the  Massachusetts  Com- 
mission on  Industrial  and  Technical  Education  that  "25,000  chil- 
dren between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  of  age  are  at  work  or 
idle,"  that  is,  not  in  school ;  and  the  result  of  this  careful  investi- 
gation was  to  make  entirely  certain  that  these  children  had 
dropped  out  of  school  because  they  did  not  find  there  any  possi- 
bility for  training  along  lines  which  would  prepare  for  the 
making  of  a  livelihood. 

We  must  conclude,  therefore,  that  neither  within  the  organi- 
zation of  industry  itself,  nor  outside  of  it,  in  schools  of  any  type, 
is  there  opportunity  for  the  stream  of  growing  boys  and  girls  to 
gain  in  an  economic  manner  that  degree  of  vocational  training 
which  the  conditions  of  modern  industry  demand. 

What  then  is  the  situation  which  we  face?  First,  the  demand 
of  our  specialized  commercial  and  industrial  life  for  a  larger  and 
larger  percentage  of  skilled  workers.  Secondly,  a  stream  of  for- 
eign immigration  pouring  upon  our  shores  an  unskilled  popula- 
tion much  of  which  could  not  acquire  skill  readily,  even  if  oppor- 
tunity were  presented,  and  which  must  inevitably  supply  largely 
the  demand  for  unskilled  labor.  Third,  a  stream  of  growing  boys 
and  girls  who  must  earn  their  living  through  our  present  complex 
and  specialized  forms  of  industry.  Fourth,  a  comparatively  slight 
chance  of  their  gaining  skill  after  they  enter  the  industrial  life, 
and  no  adequate  opportunity  to  gain  skill  through  the  school 
before  entering  upon  this  work.  What  is  the  result?  A  demand 
for  trained  men  and  women,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other 
a  vain  beating  against  the  bars  which  defend  the  skilled  positions, 
by  a  mass  of  desponding,  dissatisfied  unskilled  workers,  with 
only  the  most  venturesome  and  aggressive  pushing  through  into 
skilled  positions  in  a  manner  harmful  and  exhausting  to  them- 
selves and  weakening  to  the  nation. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  the  real  menace  of  unskill  becomes 
clear.  Much  has  been  written  and  spoken  about  the  retarding  ef- 
fect of  unskill  upon  our  national  production,  and  this  is  indeed 
serious.  But  the  real  danger  is  more  fundamental.  Of  greater 
importance  than  the  product  of  labor  is  the  worker  himself.  The 
effect  upon  our  people  of  such  a  situation  as  has  been  described, 
is  the  real  danger.  The  problem  is  not  primarily  industrial  but 
social.  Unskill  in  the  face  of  a  demand  for  skill  leads  to  degen- 
eracy. In  this  fact  lies  its  greatest  menace.  In  his  admirable 
study  of  "Misery  and  its  Causes,"  Dr.  Devine  wisely  suggests  that 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  57 

the  great  cause  of  misery  is  maladjustment,  and  there  is  strong 
reason  to  think  that  his  conclusion  is  correct.  But  just  in  so  far 
as  it  is  true  that  economic  facts  lie  back  of  and  condition  the 
progress  of  civilization,  to  that  extent  failure  to  meet  the  funda- 
mental economic  facts  involved  in  advancing  stages  of  industry 
must  constitute  or  lead  to  the  greatest  social  maladjustment  and 
consequent  degradation  and  misery.  It  is  maladjustment  in  re- 
spect to  the  most  vital  phase  of  life. 

A  great  proportion  of  the  young  people  of  our  country  must 
enter  an  industrial  calling.  In  what  way  does  this  unfitness  for 
it  affect  their  lives?  The  result  is  best  shown  by  the  often-quoted 
finding  of  the  Massachusetts  Commission  on  Industrial  and  Tech- 
nical Education,  for  1906.  Out  of  25,000  young  people  of  from 
fourteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age  in  that  state  not  in  school,  it  is 
reported  that  thirty-three  per  cent  were  in  absolutely  unskilled 
trades  and  sixty-four  per  cent  in  what  are  called  low-grade  indus- 
tries, where  the  skill  of  the  workers  is  very  slight.  Only  less  than 
two  per  cent  had  found  their  way  into  really  skilled  industries. 
What  does  it  mean,  humanly  speaking,  to  have  a  child  employed 
in  an  unskilled  industry?  Simply  that  the  child  usually  has  come 
to  the  end  of  its  development.  On  the  side  of  industry  it  means 
a  permanently  small  production  and  low  earning  power ;  on  the 
side  of  the  individual  life,  it  means  a  stagnant  mind  and  the  con- 
sequences which  flow  from  it.  For  it  is  not  true  that  children 
remain  in  these  low-grade  occupations  for  a  brief  time,  and  from 
them  pass  to  higher  and  more  skilled  employment.  The  nature 
of  industrial  and  commercial  technic  is  such  that  there  is  a  chasm 
between  unskilled  and  skilled  employments.  There  is  no  passage 
from  one  to  the  other.  The  elevator  boy  or  messenger  boy  is  not 
being  trained  to  be  a  mechanic  or  a  telegrapher  or  any  other 
more  or  less  skilled  worker.  These  and  other  low-paid  juvenile 
employments  represent  a  class  of  work  of  a  special  sort  from 
which  there  is  no  exit  and  which  rather  unfit  than  fit  one  for 
better  work.  In  the  street  trades,  in  candy-making,  in  cotton, 
woolen,  knitting  and  other  mill  work,  and  in  many  other  places 
such  work  is  found.  To  a  considerable  extent  it  is  work  which 
should  be  done  by  machines  and  not  by  growing  boys  and  girls. 
The  child  who  leaves  school  to  enter  one  of  these  positions,  con- 
demns himself  in  the  majority  of  cases  to  an  unskilled  life.  He 
passes  from  one  unskilled  position  to  another,  becoming  more 
and  more  discontented  as  he  finds  it  impossible  to  advance  in 


58  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

wages  and  responsibility.  Discontent,  hopelessness,  shiftlessness, 
take  the  place  of  ambition  and  progressive  force.  The  unskilled 
employment  is  not  disciplinary  and  it  does  not  lead  to  a  skilled 
employment  which  is  disciplinary.  In  the  organization  of  indus- 
try, the  avoidance  of  waste  is  a  great  aim;  yet  the  lessening  of 
the  greatest  of  all  wastes — the  waste  of  life — receives  scanty  at- 
tention. 

The  writer  of  "The  Long  Day,"3  in  drawing  upon  her  own 
experience  as  an  unskilled  girl,  looking  for  employment  in  a  great 
city,  summarizes  the  situation  in  these  words : 

For  sad  and  terrible  though  it  be,  the  truth  is  that  the  majority  of 
"unfortunates,"  whether  of  the  specifically  criminal  or  of  the  prostitute 
class,  are  what  they  are,  not  because  they  are  inherently  vicious,  but 
because  they  were  failures  as  workers  and  wage  earners.  They  were 
failures  as  such,  primarily,  for  no  other  reason  than  that  they  did  not  like 
to  work.  And  they  did  not  like  to  work,  not  because  they  are  lazy — they 
are  anything  but  lazy — but  because  they  did  not  know  how  to  work. 

And  again  the  same  writer  records  her  conclusions  in  regard 
to  the  educational  need  of  girls  in  view  of  the  modern  demand 
for  skill : 

And  there  are  other  things  more  important  than  the  "three  R's"  which 
she  should  be  taught.  She  should  be  taught  how  to  work — how  to  work 
intelligently.  She  should  be  trained  young  in  the  fundamental  race  activi- 
ties, in  the  natural  human  instincts  for  making  something  with  the  hands 
or  of  doing  something  with  the  hands,  and  of  taking  infinite  pleasure  in 
making  it  perfect,  in  doing  it  well.4 

And  it  may  be  added  that  what  is  true  of  girls  is  equally  true 
of  boys.  The  great  cause  of  failure  and  resulting  degeneracy  is 
lack  of  training. 

It  must  be  recognized  that  the  vocational  impulse  is  deep- 
seated,  and  as  the  child  advances  into  youth  he  begins  to  look 
to  the  doing  of  his  life's  work.  He  is  restless  with  simply  aca- 
demic subjects,  however  valuable.  He  is  concrete  in  his  demands. 
He  wishes  to  do  and  earn.  But  it  is  an  interest  in  the  deep  hu- 
man instincts  and  forces  which  must  be  laid  hold  of,  if  we  are 
to  develop  a  healthy,  hopeful  life;  and  among  these  we  must 
recognize  the  economic  instinct  leading  to  the  desire  to  earn 
and  to  make  a  place  in  the  world  of  production.  How  much  of 
progress  flowed  from  the  development  resulting  from  the  voca- 

8  Page  277. 
«  Page  294. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  59 

tional  education  of  the  apprentice  of  the  guild  organization,  it 
is  not  possible  to  say;  but  it  certainly  was  a  factor  of  no  small 
import.  And  the  close  association  of  the  wonderful  expression 
of  artistic  genius  in  Italy  with  the  development  of  the  skilled 
artisan  and  craftsman,  is  a  feature  of  social  history  which  should 
lead  to  serious  reflection. 

But,  further,  lack  of  skill  means  insecurity  of  employment 
for  adult  workers;  and  no  greater  danger  threatens  labor  than 
this.  Every  slackening  of  trade,  every  depression  of  business, 
every  interference  with  industrial  progress,  every  mistake  of 
judgment  of  the  organizers  of  industry,  falls  with  heaviest  force 
upon  the  unskilled.  Their  value  in  industry  is  least,  their  tenure 
of  employment  is  most  easily  imperilled.  The  past  two  winters 
with  armies  of  unemployed  in  every  large  city,  recruited  largely, 
we  are  told  by  competent  observers,  from  the  unskilled,  bear 
witness  to  this  fact. 

A  consequence  of  economic  insecurity  is  a  weakening  of 
moral  tone  and  grip ;  this  is  the  greatest  of  all  dangers  to  society. 
"Every  great  industrial  crisis  leaves  behind  it,"  says  Dr.  Warner, 
"  a  legacy  of  individual  degeneracy  and  personal  unthrift."5  "In- 
voluntary idleness  intensifies  and  perpetuates  incapacity."  Noth- 
ing so  begets  failure  as  the  consciousness  of  failure.  The  dis- 
cipline of  regular  and  continuous  occupation  is  a  support  which 
few  can  do  without.  At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Britsh  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Commission  on  the  Poor  Laws  held  that  pauperism  arises  mainly 
from  the  casual  worker  class,  that  is,  in  the  main,  the  unskilled 
class  whose  security  of  employment  is  slightest  and  whose  mental 
attitude  is  therefore  least  hopeful  and  healthy.  To  live  on  the 
edge  of  social  existence  blinds  the  eyes  to  the  social  order  which 
is  not  near  the  edge.  Hopefulness  of  mind  is  a  social  force  im- 
possible to  measure.  It  is  hope  which  marks  the  difference  be- 
tween slavery  and  freedom,  between  stagnation  and  progress. 
But  insecurity  weakens  and  destroys  hope,  and  if  employment 
continues  to  be  insecure,  the  result  must  be  an  increasing  body  of 
hopeless  men  and  women,  feeding,  inevitably,  the  ranks  of  crim- 
inal and  pauper  degeneracy. 

Viewed  from  this  point,  the  significance  of  unskill  becomes 
tremendous.  Lack  of  skill  stands  as  the  bar  to  mental  progress 
even  in  an  unskilled  age;  but  in  an  age  demanding  skill,  the 
lack  of  it  is  itself  a  condition  leading  to  degeneration.  Through 

5  A.  G.  Warner,  "American  Charities/'  pp.  103  and  97. 


60  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

unskill,  labor  is  condemned  to  low  wages,  a  narrow  outlook,  an 
inability  to  meet  the  modern  demands  of  industry;  by  remaining 
economically  unfit,  men  become  socially  unfit  and  are  forced  for 
themselves  and  their  children  into  the  ceaseles  round  of  struggle 
for  bare  subsistence,  with  consequent  hopelessness,  bodily  decay 
and  resultant  misery.  It  should  be  clear  that  in  refusing  to  meet 
the  industrial  needs  of  our  age  for  skilled  workers  the  nation 
is  condemning  a  considerable  part  of  its  population  to  an  in- 
evitable economic  unfitness  and  resultant  mental  sterility,  since 
economic  well-being  is  essential  to  mental  stability  and  progress. 
Degeneracy,  thus,  is  born  of  the  unskilled  hand  and  the  un- 
trained mind. 

There  is  one  further  position  which  needs  to  be  considered. 
It  is  becoming  clear,  as  investigation  into  social  life  proceeds, 
that  human  progress  depends  largely  upon  society's  creative 
minds,  its  "inventors,"  its  originators,  whose  fertile  ideas  are 
passed  on  to  the  mind  of  the  mass  of  mankind.  It  is  these  sug- 
gestive and  fruitful  ideas  which  mark  the  stages  of  advance- 
ment and  which  constitute  the  essence  of  civilization. 

And  it  may  be  said,  further,  to  be  a  matter  of  at  least  large 
probability  that  these  creative  minds  may  be  brought  forth  in 
any  stratum  of  society.  Whether  they  shall  develop  and  give 
to  civilization  the  benefit  of  their  talent,  depends  upon  the  con- 
ditions surrounding  them.  They  may  grow  and  become  mentally 
fruitful,  or  be  repressed  and  become  sterile,  according  as  social 
environment  is  favorable  or  the  contrary.  It  would  seem  that 
society  should  make  every  effort  in  its  own  interest,  to  encour- 
age their  nurture  and  preservation.  But,  as  Dr.  Ward  has  so  well 
shown,6  education  is  the  greatest  social  agency  for  providing  that 
the  mind,  strong  by  nature,  shall  develop  and  give  its  ideas  to 
the  world.  How  great  therefore  is  the  urgency  that  society 
should  afford  educational  opportunity  to  all  classes  of  its  people. 
How  great  a  part  of  the  possible  progress  of  the  race  or  nation 
is  hindered  by  the  social  waste  of  its  creative  ability  which  never 
arrives  at  its  period  of  fertile  productiveness  for  lack  of  suitable 
social  opportunity. 

It  should,  however,  be  clear  from  what  has  already  been  said 
that  the  only  education  which  can  reach  the  masses  of  a  nation 
and  hold  them  long  enough  to  be  of  educational  service  to  them, 

6  "Applied  Sociology,"  chapter  X. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  61 

is  that  which  looks  toward  vocation.  And  it  therefore  follows 
that  only  by  making  our  school  system,  to  some  degree,  indus- 
trial and  vocational,  and  thereby  holding  our  children  under 
educational  influences  for  a  longer  period,  can  the  great  number 
of  productive  minds,  born  in  poverty  or  other  unfavorable  con- 
ditions, be  preserved  and  brought  to  that  stage  of  development 
in  which  they  may  advance  the  nation. 

Here,  then,  is  the  real  danger  of  unskill.  Modern  industry 
calls  for  skill.  In  the  fact  of  this  demand,  lack  of  skill  leads  to 
unemployment  and  so  to  social  weakness.  Lack  of  skill  leads, 
also,  too  poor  employment ;  and  so  likewise,  carries  men  into 
shiftlessness,  discontent  and  degeneration.  On  the  other  hand, 
skill  breeds  hope  and  hence  mental  development.  It  opens  new 
avenues  of  activity  and  draws  out  otherwise  buried  talent,  and 
thus  preserves  the  originators  to  the  race.  But  our  two  streams 
of  labor  are  inadequately  trained  for  the  economic  demand. 
What  we  should  do  in  regard  to  the  stream  of  immigrants  is  a 
problem  by  itself.  But  as  for  our  own  children,  the  demand  for 
opportunity  to  gain  that  skill,  which  will  enable  them  to  fit  the 
economic  life  of  to-day,  is  a  very  urgent  and  vital  one. 


NEED  OF  AN  INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION 
IN  AN  INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY1 


The  need  for  industrial  education  may  be  approached  from 
many  standpoints.  Industrial  education  may  be  treated  as  an 
indispensable  factor  in  material  prosperity,  or  as  a  factor  in  pro- 
moting the  ability  of  a  nation  in  the  competitive  race  for  com- 
mercial supremacy  among  nations — a  point  of  view  from  which 
the  example  of  Germany  is  urged.  Or  it  may  be  regarded  from 
the  standpoint  of  its  effect  upon  the  contentment  of  the  workers, 
or  as  a  means  of  providing  a  more  stable  and  efficient  set  of 
employes,  and  reducing  the  waste  now  found  in  most  manu- 
facturing enterprises.  All  of  these  things  have  their  importance. 
But  they  all  look  at  education  as  an  instrument  for  external 

1  By  John  Dewey,  Manual  Training  and  Vocational  Education.  17:409- 
14.  February,  1916. 


62  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

ends,  and  they  pass  lightly  over  that  part  of  the  subject  repre- 
sented in  our  title  by  the  words,  "education  in  an  industrial 
democracy."  The  standpoint  from  which  we  are  to  approach 
the  matter  is,  in  short,  that  of  the  demands  laid  upon  education 
by  the  need  of  fostering  democracy  in  a  country  largely  indus- 
trial, and  where  the  need  of  making  the  spirit  of  democracy 
permeate  industry  is  recognized. 

Hence,  a  few  words  about  democracy  itself  seem  to  be  called 
for.  Democracy  has  its  political  aspect.  Probably  this  is  the 
first  aspect  to  present  itself  to  view.  Politically,  democracy 
means  a  form  of  government  which  does  not  esteem  the  well- 
being  of  one  individual  or  class  above  that  of  another ;  a  system 
of  laws  and  administrations  which  ranks  the  happiness  and 
interests  of  all  as  upon  the  same  plane,  and  before  whose  law 
and  administration  all  individuals  are  alike,  or  equal.  But  ex- 
perience has  shown  that  such  a  state  of  affairs  is  not  realizable 
save  where  all  interests  have  an  opportunity  to  be  heard,  to 
make  themselves  felt,  to  take  a  hand  in  shaping  policies.  Con- 
sequently, universal  suffrage,  direct  participation  in  choice  of 
rulers,  is  an  essential  part  of  political  democracy. 

But  political  democracy  is  not  the  whole  of  democracy.  On 
the  contrary,  experience  has  proved  that  it  cannot  stand  in  iso- 
lation. It  can  be  effectively  maintained  only  where  democracy 
is  social — where,  if  you  please,  it  is  moral.  A  social  democracy 
signifies,  most  obviously,  a  state  of  social  life  where  there  is 
wide  and  varied  distribution  of  opportunities;  where  there  is 
much  social  mobility  or  scope  for  change  of  position  and  sta- 
tion ;  where  there  is  free  circulation  of  experiences  and  ideas, 
making  possible  a  wide  recognition  of  common  interests  and 
purposes,  and  where  there  is  such  an  obvious  utility  of  the 
social  and  political  organization  to  its  members  as  to  enlist 
their  warm  and  steady  support  in  its  behalf.  Without  ease  in 
change,  society  gets  stratified  into  classes,  and  these  classes  pre- 
vent anything  like  fair  and  even  distribution  of  opportunity  for 
all.  The  stratified  classes  become  fossilized,  and  a  fedual  soci- 
ety comes  into  existence.  Accident,  rather  than  capacity  and 
training,  determine  career,  reward,  and  repute.  Since  democ- 
racies forbid,  by  their  very  nature,  highly  centralized  govern- 
ments working  by  coercion,  they  depend  upon  shared  interests 
and  experiences  for  their  unity  and  upon  personal  appreciation 
of  the  value  of  institutions  for  stability  and  defense. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  63 

Such  qualities  as  these,  such  qualities  as  insistence  upon 
widespread  opportunity,  free  exchange  of  ideas  and  experiences, 
extensive  realization  of  the  purposes  which  hold  men  together, 
are  intellectual  and  emotional.  The  importance  of  such  qualities 
is  the  reason  why  we  ventured  to  call  a  social  democracy  a  moral 
democracy.  And  they  are  traits  which  do  not  grow  spontan- 
eously on  bushes.  They  have  to  be  planted  and  nurtured.  They 
are  dependent  upon  education.  It  is  no  accident  that  all  democ- 
racies have  put  a  high  estimate  upon  education ;  that  schooling  has 
been  their  first  care  and  enduring  charge.  Only  through  educa- 
tion can  equality  of  opportunity  be  anything  more  than  a  phrase. 
Accidental  inequalities  of  birth,  wealth,  and  learning  are  always 
tending  to  restrict  the  opportunties  of  some  as  compared  with 
those  of  others.  Only  free  and  continued  education  can  counter- 
act those  forces  which  are  always  at  work  to  restore,  in  however 
changed  a  form,  feudal  oligarchy.  Democracy  has  to  be  born 
anew  every  generation,  and  education  is  its  midwife.  More- 
over, it  is  only  education  which  can  guarantee  widespread  com- 
munity of  interest  and  aim.  In  a  complex  society,  ability  to 
understand  and  sympathize  with  the  operations  and  lot  of  others 
is  a  condition  of  common  purpose  which  only  education  can  pro- 
cure. The  external  differences  of  pursuit  and  experience  are  so 
very  great,  in  our  complicated  industrial  education,  that  men 
will  not  see  across  and  thru  the  walls  which  separate  them, 
unless  they  have  been  trained  to  do  so.  And  without  this  lively 
and  ardent  sense  of  common  life,  it  is  hopeless  to  secure  in 
individuals  that  loyalty  to  the  organized  group  which  needs  to 
be  an  animating  motive  of  conduct. 

To  recall  these  generalities,  these  commonplaces,  would  be 
idle  were  it  not  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  drop  them  from  view 
when  the  topic  of  industrial  education  is  under  consideration. 
Its  purpose  is  often  thot  to  be  so  much  narrower,  more  prac- 
tical and  technical,  than  the  object  of  other  established  modes 
of  education,  that  these  features  may  be — nay,  must  be — left  out 
of  account.  But  the  contrary  is  the  case.  Just  because  of  the 
part  played  by  industry  in  modern  life,  an  education  which  has 
to  do  with  preparation  for  it,  must  bear  these  considerations  in 
mind  more  than  other  forms,  if  democracy  is  to  remain  an  actu- 
ality. Just  these  things  provide  the  controlling  considerations 
for  deciding  the  curriculums,  methods,  and  administration  of  a 
system  of  industrial  education. 


64  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

There  are  many  phases  of  industry,  as  at  present  carried  on, 
which  are  unfavorable  to  a  genuine  democracy,  just  as,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  development  of  modern  industrial  and  commer- 
cial methods  has  been  a  chief  factor  in  calling  political  democ- 
racy into  existence  and  then  endowing  it  with  social  aspira- 
tions. There  are  extreme  divisions  of  work  between  the  skilled 
and  unskilled,  and  also  between  the  most  skilled  workers  on  the 
technical  side,  whether  inventors  or  doers,  and  the  managers  on 
the  fiscal  and  marketing  side.  These  tend  to  segregate  men  and 
women  into  exclusive  classes.  The  difference  on  the  side  of 
consumption  between  those  who  can  barely  maintain  a  low 
standard  of  living  and  those  who  are  relieved  by  circumstances 
from  any  responsible  thot  for  expenditure,  and  who  give  them- 
selves up  to  display  and  idleness,  has  never  been  as  large  or  as 
overtly  conspicuous  as  it  is  today.  Older  divisions  of  master 
and  subject  class  tend  to  reinstate  themselves  in  a  subtle  form. 

Machine  industry,  moreover,  tends  to  reduce  great  masses  of 
men  to  a  level  where  their  own  work  becomes  mechanical  and 
servile.  Work  loses  its  intellectual  and  esthetic  cast  and  becomes 
a  mere  necessity  to  procure  the  pay  which  buys  daily  support. 
The  machine  operator  engaged  in  manipulation  of  a  machine 
becomes  identified  with  the  monotonous  movements  of  the  mon- 
ster he  tends.  As  long  as  he  has  to  do  new  things,  he  learns. 
The  moment  he  has  mastered  his  unchanging  work  it  masters 
him ;  its  habits  absorb  and  swallow  his.  Employers  whose 
methods  have  bred  lack  of  initiative,  and  have  practically  for- 
bidden workers  to  think,  complain  because  men  can  not  be 
found  for  places  of  greater  responsibility.  But  the  evils  are  far 
from  being  confined  to  the  laboring  class.  When  social  respon- 
sibilities have  at  most  to  do  with  the  expenditure  of  wealth,  not 
with  earning  it,  when  business  is  pursued  not  as  an  exercise  in 
social  cooperation  but  as  a  means  of  power,  'the  mind  is  so  hard- 
ened and  restricted  that  democracy  becomes  a  mere  name. 

To  recall  such  danger  is  to  recognize  some  of  the  offices  thrust 
upon  industrial  education  in  a  democracy.  To  counteract  the 
soulless  monotony  of  machine  industry,  a  premium  must  be  put 
upon  initiative,  intellectual  independence,  and  inventiveness. 
Hence  schooling  must  not  model  itself  upon  the  automatic 
repetitiousness  of  machines,  whether  in  the  name  of  the  false 
gods  of  practical  skill  or  discipline.  Personal  control  of  power, 
strong  discontent  with  whatever  subordinates  mental  capacity 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  65 

to  merely  external  regulation,  must  be  made  primary.  The  im- 
agination must  be  so  stored  that  in  the  inevitable  monotonous 
stretches  of  work,  it  may  have  worthy  material  of  art  and  litera- 
ture and  science  upon  which  to  feed,  instead  of  being  frittered 
away  upon  undisciplined  dreamings  and  sensual  fancies.  New 
inventions  and  applications  of  science  are  actively  remaking 
technical  and  technological  methods  of  industry.  Hence  the 
desire  for  immediate  results  and  immediate  efficiency  must  be 
held  in  check  by  the  need  of  securing  powers  which  will  enable 
individuals  to  adapt  themselves  to  inevitable  change.  Otherwise 
they  will  become  helpless  burdens  on  society  as  the  methods 
in  which  they  have  been  trained  pass  away.  Moreover,  since 
the  worker  is  to  be  an  integral  part  of  a  self-managing  society, 
pains  must  be  taken  at  every  turn  to  see  that  instead  of  being 
prepared  for  a  special,  exclusive,  practical  service,  as  a  hide 
might  be  prepared  for  a  shoemaker,  he  is  educated  into  ability 
to  recognize  and  apply  his  own  abilities,  is  given  self-command, 
intellectual  as  well  as  moral. 

Let  it  not  be  thot  that  this  is  a  plea  for  the  continuation  of 
the  older  so-called  "general  education,"  on  the  ground  that  it 
also  made  its  defense  that  it  trained  general  capacity  and  brot 
the  individual  to  a  consciousness  of  himself  and  his  surround- 
ings. The  material  of  his  traditional  general  education  is  not 
adapted  to  the  needs  and  activities  of  an  industrial  society.  It 
was  developed  (as  were  its  methods)  in  times  when  our  present 
industrial  society  was  not.  The  simple  fact  is,  that  no  attempt 
has  ever  been  made  to  discover  the  factors  of  scientific  and 
social  importance  in  present-day  industry  and  in  a  common  demo- 
cratic life,  and  then  to  utilize  them  for  educational  purposes:  as 
was  done  by  our  spiritual  progenitors  in  the  work  of  selecting 
the  factors  of  value  in  a  non-industrial  and  feudal  society  so 
as  to  make  them  count  for  education.  The  work  which  has  to 
be  done  by  a  system  of  industrial  education  in  an  industrial 
democracy  is  to  study  the  most  important  processes  of  today  in 
farming,  manufacturing,  and  transportation  to  find  out  what  are 
the  fundamental  and  general  elements  which  compose  them,  and 
thereby  develop  a  new  kind  of  general  education  on  top  of  which 
the  more  special  and  technical  training  for  distinctive  vocations 
may  be  undertaken. 

As  a  new  subject-matter  is  needed,  so  are  new  methods.  Our 
inherited  instruction  knows,  in  the  main,  two  kinds  of  methods. 


66  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

One  is  that  of  habituation  in  various  specialized  modes  of  skill, 
methods  of  repetition,  and  drill,  with  a  view  to  getting  auto- 
matic skill.  This  is  the  method  which  is  most  likely  to  be  re- 
sorted to  in  an  unintelligent  industrial  training.  It  is  adapted  to 
securing  mechanical  proficiency  in  a  narrow  trade,  but  is  no 
more  adapted  to  the  specific  needs  of  industrial  democracy  than 
is  the  other  inherited  method — the  theoretical  and  scholastic 
method  of  acquiring,  expounding,  and  interpreting  literary  ma- 
terials. What  is  needed  is  a  recognition  of  the  intellectual  value 
of  labor — the  same  kind  of  recognition  of  intellectual  results  in 
facts,  ideas,  and  methods  to  be  got  from  ordinary  industrial 
materials  and  processes  that  the  laboratory  (significant  name) 
has  accomplished  for  a  limited  range  of  materials  and  processes. 
Or,  put  the  other  way  about,  what  is  needed  is  a  development 
of  laboratory  methods  which  will  connect  them  with  the  ordinary 
industrial  activities  of  men.  In  that  case,  there  will  be  no 
danger  that  the  necessary  personal  insight  and  initiative  will 
not  be  secured. 

The  value  of  the  older  humanistic  methods  was  that  they 
had  a  vital  relation  to  human  affairs  and  interests.  But  that  is 
a  reason  for  attempting  to  discover  the  humanism  contained  in 
our  existing  social  life,  not  for  the  reverse  policy  of  despising 
the  present  and  taking  flight  to  the  past.  I  do  not  underestimate 
the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  taking  a  spiritual  survey  of  our 
present  industrial  society  and  applying  its  results  to  education. 
Strong  class  interests  stand  in  its  way,  for  it  would  be  sure  to 
utilize  education  as  a  means  for  bringing  to  more  general  recog- 
nition the  evils  and  defects  of  present  industrial  aims  and  meth- 
ods, and  in  making  more  wide-spread  a  knowledge  of  the  means 
by  which  these  evils  are  to  be  eliminated.  An  effective  study  of 
child  labor,  of  the  sanitary  conditions  under  which  multitudes 
of  men  and  women  now  labor,  of  the  methods  employed  in  a 
struggle  for  economic  supremacy,  of  the  connections  between 
industrial  and  political  control,  and  of  the  methods  by  which 
such  evils  may  best  be  remedied,  is  a  need  of  any  education 
which  is  to  be  a  factor  in  bringing  industrial  democracy  out  of 
industrial  feudalism.  But  to  propose  this  is  to  invite  the  attack 
of  those  who  most  profit  by  the  perpetuation  of  existing  con- 
ditions. Yet  since  this  knowledge  is  an  obvious  concern  of  the 
masses,  and  we  have  already  a  political  machinery  adapted  for 
securing  control  of  the  masses,  this  spirit  is  bound  in  the  future 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  67 

to  animate  our  educational  system.  In  the  universities,  in  spite 
of  their  seeming  closer  connection  with  existing  economic  forces, 
this  scientific  spirit  has  already  come  into  education.  As  the 
merely  propagandist  and  merely  philanthropic  spirit  give  way  to 
a  scientific  spirit,  it  will  find  its  way  also  into  lower  education, 
and  finally  become  a  part  of  the  working  mental  disposition  of 
the  masses. 

It  hardly  needs  to  be  said,  in  closing,  that  it  is  a  need  of 
industrial  education  in  an  industrial  democracy  that  its  adminis- 
tration be  kept  unified  with  that  of  ordinary  public  education. 
To  make  it  a  separate  system,  administered  by  different  officers 
having  different  aims  and  methods  from  those  of  the  established 
public  school  system,  is  to  invite  the  promotion  of  a  narrow 
trade  system  which  shall  in  effect  make  the  pecuniary,  rather 
than  the  social  and  democratic,  factors  in  industry  supreme. 
The  natural  counterpart  to  free  and  universal  public  education 
is  a  system  of  universal  industry  in  which  there  are  no  idlers  or 
shirkers  or  parasites,  and  where  the  ruling  motive  is  interest  in 
good  workmanship  for  public  ends,  not  exploitation  of  others 
for  private  ends.  This  is  the  reason  why  industrial  democracy 
and  industrial  education  should  fit  each  other  like  hand  and 
glove. 


THREE  STAGES  IN  INDUSTRIAL 
EDUCATION1 

Three  stages  in  industrial  education:  (i)  the  beginning  stage, 
(2)  the  finding  stage,  (3)  the  finishing  stage.  These  are  the 
three  divisions  of  a  comprehensive  scheme  of  industrial  train- 
ing recently  outlined  by  the  committee  on  course  of  study  for 
the  Indian  schools  of  the  United  States.  The  first  stage  gives 
elementary  general  education;  the  second  continues  the  general 
education  and  helps  a  student  to  find  a  vocation  suited  to  his 
taste  and  ability ;  the  third  fits  him  more  specifically  for  that 
vocation.  "During  the  first  and  second  periods  the  training  in 
domestic  and  industrial  activities  centers  around  the  conditions 
essential  to  the  improvement  and  proper  maintenance  of  the 

1  Editorial  Comment.  Manual  Training  and  Vocational  Education.  17: 
379-80.  January,  1916. 


68  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

home  and  farm."  "In  addition  to  the  regular  academic  subjects 
boys  are  required  to  take  practical  courses  in  farming,  garden- 
ing, dairying,  farm  blacksmithing,  farm  engineering,  farm  ma- 
sonry, farm  painting,  and  shoe  and  harness  repairing,  and  all  girls 
arc  required  to  take  courses  in  home  cooking,  sewing,  laundering, 
nursing,  poultry  raising  and  kitchen  gardening."  "Non-essen- 
tials are  eliminated.  One-half  of  each  day  is  given  to  industrial 
training  and  the  other  half  to  academic  studies.  All  effort  is 
directed  toward  training  Indian  boys  and  girls  for  efficient  and 
useful  lives  under  the  conditions  which  they  must  meet  after 
leaving  school." 


WORK  AS  RELATED  TO  MODERN 
INDUSTRIAL  CONDITIONS1 

There  is  an  instinct  for  work,  but  basically  it  is  the  instinct 
for  self-preservation  and  self-perpetuation.  Work  is  our  in- 
dividual and  collective  struggle  for  existence ;  and,  out  of  the 
mental  and  physical  exertion  of  the  struggle  to  feed,  clothe,  and 
house  us,  has  evolved  our  present  state  of  being.  The  whole 
complex  machine  of  commerce  and  industry — factory,  farm, 
railroad,  bank,  office,  government — has  been  built  for  produc- 
tion, construction,  distribution,  and  protection.  The  present 
machine  is  the  product  of  slow  evolution ;  and  the  effort  of  the 
centuries  to  build  a  machine  which  will  better  cope  with  the 
problem  has  been  the  primary  cause  of  our  advance  in  the 
various  activities  of  life.  Integrity,  honesty,  discipline,  sound 
health,  fair  dealing,  respect  for  others'  rights — these  have  come 
from  the  courageous  assumption  of  one's  burden  of  work,  and 
the  opposites  of  these  are  the  results  of  the  desire  to  dodge  the 
burden. 

The  Natural  Law  of  Work 

And  so  we  have  a  natural  law  of  work,  the  substance  of 
which  is  this :  Work  and  you  will  reach  a  higher  mental  devel- 
opment; cease  work  and  you  will  degenerate. 

1  From  "Education  for  Industrial  Workers,"  by  Herman  Schneider. 
Copyright,  1915,  by  World  Book  Company,  Yonkers-on-Hudson,  New  York. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  69 

The  law  can  be  established  scientifically  if  need  be,  but  it  is 
not  necessary,  for  in  this  case  common  observation,  science,  and 
religion  all  agree.  Each  of  us  knows  he  will  deteriorate  physi- 
cally and  mentally  if  he  ceases  constructive  work,  and  history 
shows  that  this  is  also  true  of  communities,  of  nations,  and  of 
civilizations.  Our  proverbs,  sacred  and  secular,  affirm  it.  The 
cycle  of  work  to  wealth,  wealth  to  idleness,  idleness  to  poverty, 
and  poverty  to  work  again,  is  an  evidence  of  inefficiency  follow- 
ing inaction.  Mental  and  physical  activity  are  mutually  stimula- 
ting ;  thinking  and  doing  are  reciprocal  aids. 

Former  Alliance  of  Mental  Training  and  Industry 

Mental  training  and  industry  have  both  been  most  stable 
when  they  have  been  most  closely  allied ;  and  until  comparatively 
recent  years  they  have  been  one  in  fact.  Under  the  old  guild  and 
apprentice  systems,  for  example,  the  workers  were  trained  so  well 
in  the  commercial  field  that  industrial  education  was  not  a  special 
school  problem.  Work  was  education.  To  embark  upon  an  ap- 
prenticeship was  serious  business ;  careful  discussion  preceded  it 
and  ample  documentary  agreements  gave  guarantees  of  execution. 
Industrial  communities  were  small,  and  personal  acquaintance 
fostered  personal  interest.  Competition  in  skillful  execution 
furnished  a  lively  stimulus  which  led  to  the  enthusiastic  use  of 
head  and  hand  coordinately.  Generation  by  generation  there  was 
a  cumulative  mental  advancement  coupled  with  refinement  of 
manual  skill  in  constructive  work.  In  this  manner,  even  long  be- 
fore the  days  of  formal  apprenticeship,  mankind  grew  through 
work. 

Changes  with  Introduction  of  Factory  System 

But  there  have  been  two  significant  changes  in  the  conditions 
under  which  work  is  done. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  only  within  the  past  two  or  three  gener- 
ations that  mankind  has  worked  in  masses  within  walls.  For 
centuries  mankind  did  self-directed  work,  largely  in  the  open  air. 
These  were  farmers,  the  seamen,  and  the  forest  rangers.  As  civi- 
lization grew,  a  constantly  increasing  minority  did  self-directed 
work,  individually  or  in  small  groups,  indoors;  these  were  the 
artisans  in  the  skilled  trades,  who  met  the  demands  of  growing 


70  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

communities.  Then  came  the  great  change  to  the  factory  system 
through  the  development  of  power  devices;  this  dates  virtually 
from  the  invention  of  the  steam  engine. 

In  the  second  place,  the  industrial  worker  formerly  knew  a 
whole  job,  rather  than  a  part  of  it;  he  performed  a  great  variety 
of  functions  in  the  completion  of  his  task,  instead  of  endlessly  re- 
peating the  same  operation.  The  clockmaker  made  a  whole 
clock,  working  individually,  and  the  necessity  of  working  out 
every  part's  relation  to  every  other  part  gave  the  worker  a  mental 
stimulus,  and,  therefore,  a  higher  mental  development.  The 
finished  product  was  all  his  own ;  the  desire  for  self-expression, 
which  every  man  has,  found  an  outlet  through  his  work;  and, 
once  having  served  his  thorough  apprenticeship,  he  worked  largely 
by  self-direction.  Under  our  present  highly  organized  industrial 
conditions  the  making  of  a  clock  is  subdivided  into  a  large  num- 
ber of  operations.  Each  workman  in  a  clock  factory  makes  piece 
after  piece  of  the  same  kind  principally  by  feeding  material  into 
a  machine,  and  why  he  does  it  he  need  not  know  and  usually  is 
not  told.  We  are  putting  the  brains  into  the  machine  and  into 
the  management  office,  and  making  the  workman  a  purely  auto- 
matic adjunct. 

Effect  of  Different  Kinds  of  Work  on  Habit  Centers  and 
Thinking  Centers 

Now,  we  have,  broadly  speaking,  two  types  of  brain  centers : 
the  lower  centers  controlling  habits,  and  the  higher  active  think- 
ing centers.  If  one's  work  is  purely  automatic  repetition  re- 
quiring no  initiative,  planning  or  diversion,  the  habit  centers  are 
developed  and  the  thinking  centers  have  at  best  a  retarded 
growth. 

In  this  connection  it  is  necessary  to  differentiate  between 
casually  repeated  useful  habits  of  daily  life  which  economize 
time,  and  constantly  repeated  automatic  motions  which  constitute 
one's  major  work;  the  argument  is  fallacious  that,  because  the 
former  are  good,  so  are  the  latter.  The  putting  on  of  one's 
shoes  is  governed  by  one's  habit  centers;  when  we  were  learn- 
ing to  put  on  on  our  shoes  the  thinking  centers  were  being  de- 
veloped. Dressing,  eating,  walking,  boarding  a  car,  opening  a 
door  are  time-saving  actions  of  habit  repeated  at  comparatively 
long  intervals,  differing  widely  in  their  motor  forms,  and  used 
as  incidental  instruments  to  a  larger  self-directed  action.  There 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  71 

is  a  vast  difference  between  using  many  habits  several  times  a 
day  as  means  to  self-directed  ends  and  repeating  one  habit  all  day 
as  an  end  in  itself.  The  playing  of  scales  on  a  piano  becomes  a 
habit  to  the  skilled  musician ;  he  uses  it  as  a  means  of  performing 
a  stimulating,  energizing,  thought-requiring  production.  It  is  a 
good  and  beneficial  habit  which  facilitates  and  simplifies  his  per- 
formance. But  if  he  learned  the  scales  merely  to  repeat  them  ten 
hours  a  day,  day  after  day,  without  meaning  and  without  end, 
his  work  would  become  lethargizing  and  enervating. 

It  should  be  noted,  too,  that  automaticity  of  itself  does  not 
impair  one's  thinking  capacities.  When  we  walk,  our  habit 
centers  control  the  action ;  but  we  can  walk  and  think  at  the 
same  time.  The  evil  of  automatic  machine-feeding  is  negative 
rather  than  positive,  in  that  it  requires  no  constructive  exercise 
of  the  thinking  centers,  and  hence  develops  only  the  habit  cen- 
ters. There  are,  however,  certain  types  of  automatic  work  which 
are  distinctly  injurious  because  they  introduce  other  deteriorating 
factors.  For  example,  if  the  work  requires  that  the  eyes  be 
focused  constantly  at  one  place,  if  the  motions  of  the  machine  be- 
fore the  eyes  be  a  monotonous  rhythmic  repetition,  and  if  the 
motions  of  the  hands  in  feeding  the  material  into  the  machine  be 
also  rhythmic  and  monotonous,  then  a  deadening  hypnotic  effect 
is  produced  upon  the  mind;  such  is  the  work  of  a  punch-press 
operator. 

Further,  automatic  work,  in  addition  to  putting  the  thought 
centers  into  disuse  and  producing  a  lethargizing  effect,  is  re- 
pressive of  individuality.  There  has  been  developed  in  each  of 
us,  through  the  self-directed  work  of  our  ancestors  in  past 
centuries,  a  natural  instinct  for  self-expression.  Prior  to  the  day 
of  subdivided  automatic  operations  the  worker  had  an  outlet  for 
his  self-expression  in  his  work;  now,  for  the  automatic  worker, 
it  must  come  in  his  idle  hours,  and  often  in  forms  which  lead 
to  many  of  our  most  vexing  sociological  problems.  Unexpressive 
(or  repressive)  work  is  unnatural  work,  and  must  incite  to 
mental  and  physical  protest. 

Modern  Industrial  Conditions 

Now,  we  cannot  reverse  our  present  economic  order  of  things. 
Work  which  does  not  require  mental  activity  is  increasing,  and 
will  continue  to  increase  for  a  long  time  to  come.  The  condition 
is  here  and  philosophical  discussion  will  not  remove  it. 


72  .  SELECTED    ARTICLES 


Results  of  Decrease  of  Energizing  and  Increase  of 
Enervating  Work 

The  situation,  then,  sifts  down  to  this :  Energizing  work  is 
decreasing;  enervating  work  is  increasing.  We  are  rapidly 
dividing  mankind  into  a  staff  of  mental  workers  and  an  army 
of  purely  physical  workers.  The  physical  workers  are  be- 
coming more  and  more  automatic,  with  the  sure  result  that  their 
minds  are  becoming  more  and  more  lethargic.  The  work  itself 
is  not  character-building;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  repressive,  and, 
when  self-expression  comes,  it  is  hardly  energizing  mentally. 
The  real  menace  lies  in  the  fact  that  in  a  self-governing  indus- 
trial community  the  minds  of  the  majority  are  in  danger  of  be- 
coming less  capable  of  sound  and  serious  thought,  because  of 
lack  of  continuous  constructive  exercise  while  engaged  in  earn- 
ing a  livelihood. 

Laws  of  the  Two  Kinds  of  Work 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  general  law  of  labor  must  be  divided 
into  two  laws ;  namely,  the  law  of  energizing  work,  which  makes 
for  progress,  and  the  law  of  enervating  work,  which  makes  for 
retrogression.  Nearly  all  the  work  still  done  in  the  open  air, 
where  there  is  a  dependent  sequence  of  operation,  involving  plan- 
ning on  the  part  of  the  worker,  is  energizing  work.  Specific  ex- 
amples may  be  cited  in  farm  work,  railroad  work,  and  the 
building  trades.  Certain  work  done  indoors,  under  good  condi- 
tions of  light  and  air,  is  also  energizing:  for  example,  the  work 
of  a  toolmaker,  a  locomotive  assembler,  and  a  cabinet  maker. 
The  enervating  work  has  come  through  the  subdivision  of  labor 
in  factories,  so  that  each  worker  does  one  thing  over  and  over 
in  the  smallest  number  of  cubic  feet  of  space.  This  type  is 
recognizable  at  once  in  the  routine  of  the  garment  worker,  the 
punch-press  operator,  the  paper-box  maker,  and  the  shoe  worker. 
On  small,  isolated  farms,  where  a  certain  routine  week  by  week 
has  been  established  by  long  usage,  mental  development  lags 
and  the  work  may  not  be  as  energizing  as  in  certain  indoor  occu- 
pations. In  the  main,  however,  most  of  the  enervating  work  is 
done  indoors. 

Aside  from  the  broader  factors,  such  as  climate  conditions  and 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  73 

racial  characteristics,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  morale  of  a  com- 
munity depends  upon  the  kind  of  work  it  does.  A  rural  com- 
munity of  about  twelve  thousand  people,  having  clean  political 
conditions,  a  high  moral  tone,  few  jarring  families,  well-kept 
gardens,  and  a  good  average  of  intelligence,  is  a  desirable  place, 
from  the  manufacturer's  viewpoint,  in  which  to  locate  a  factory. 
If  a  manufacturer  locates  in  such  a  place  and  employs  three 
thousand  of  the  men,  women,  and  children  in  purely  automatic, 
noisy,  high-speed  work,  the  town  will  change  very  materially  in 
one  generation.  Its  politics  will  become  corrupt,  its  morals 
lax;  its  citizenship  will  lose  its  former  mental  stability  and  fly 
eagerly  and  earnestly  from  one  spectacular  "ism"  to  another;  its 
families  will  be  on  nervous  edge,  with  family  discipline  gone;  its 
yards  and  houses  will  lose  their  tidiness ;  saloons  will  increase — in 
a  word  it  will  become  a  "factory  town."  And  what  was  once  a 
good  community,  with  a  high  community  efficiency,  and  therefore, 
a  safe  place  in  which  to  invest  money,  becomes  a  town  of  low 
community  efficiency  and  a  constant  menace  to  the  industry  itself. 
Every  detail  of  the  town's  life  is  affected.  Religion  lags,  while 
the  amusement  parks  thrive  on  Sunday;  for,  since  the  weekday 
work  is  repressive,  an  outlet  for  pronounced  self-expression  is 
demanded  in  the  idle  hours — or,  to  put  it  in  another  way,  Nature 
goes  on  the  defensive.  The  slowly  upbuilt  appreciation  of  the 
fine  arts  is  quickly  destroyed,  for  this  cannot  grow  without  har- 
mony, orderly  thought,  and  the  desire  to  express  ideals.  Respect 
for  law  diminishes,  for  the  law  is  put  in  the  same  class  as  an 
electrically  wired  strike  fence.  These  significant  changes  are 
not  the  fault  of  the  people  who  work;  they  are  logical  natural 
products  of  the  work  itself. 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION1 

This  paper  contends  that  an  efficient  public-school  system  must 
include  adequate  provision  for  vocational  training  for  persons  of 
both  sexes  over  fourteen  years  of  age. 

Heretofore  we  have  planned  the  work  of  our  public  schools 
almost  entirely  with  reference  to  "culture;"  we  have  done  very 
little  to  stimulate  a  vocational  purpose,  and  less  still  to  provide 

1From  article  by  Paul  H.  Hanus.  Atlantic  Monthly.  101:60-8.  January, 
1908. 


74  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

for  the  realization  of  that  purpose.  In  other  words,  while  the 
schools  have  laid  stress  on  culture  as  the  end  of  education,  they 
have  laid  almost  no  stress  on  preparation  for  a  vocation.  We  may 
go  farther,  and  say  that,  not  infrequently,  the  schools  have  even 
disparaged  vocational  purposes  in  the  training  they  give.  They 
have  been  afraid  of  "utilitarian"  aims,  and,  sometimes,  by  a 
curiously  inadequate  conception  of  their  real  function,  they  have 
even  measured  their  own  usefulness  by  the  extent  to  which  they 
have  kept  the  distinctly  useful  out  of  their  work. 

By  way  of  illustration  I  need  only  cite  the  difficulty  we  have 
had  in  getting  manual  training  for  boys,  and  sewing  and  cooking 
for  girls,  recognized  as  appropriate  school  subjects  or  activities. 
Manual  training  is  not  vocational  training,  to  be  sure,  as  will 
be  shown  later  on;  but,  whatever  manual  training  may  be,  its 
bearing  on  such  training  is  clear.  And  it  was  this  obvious  bear- 
ing on  preparation  for  the  vocation  of  the  artisan  and  the  engi- 
neer that  caused  the  first  advocates  of  manual  training  after  our 
Centennial  Exposition  to  urge  its  claims  on  the  attention  of  the 
schools.  But  so  strong  was  the  opposition  to  teaching  a  utili- 
tarian subject  in  the  public  schools  that  the  claims  of  manual 
training  for  recognition  have  been  based,  until  quite  recently, 
chiefly  on  its  "psychological"  value.  I  do  not  wish  to  belittle  the 
psychological  value  of  manual  training,  but  the  strongest  reason 
for  giving  it  a  place  in  our  scheme  of  public  education  is  that  it 
introduces  our  youth  to  a  sympathetic  understanding  of  the  con- 
structive activities  which  constitute  so  important  a  part  of  con- 
temporary life.  It  has  not  been  entirely  possible  to  rob  manual 
training  of  its  distinctly  useful  quality  in  public  elementary  and 
secondary  education,  although  the  attempt  has  sometimes  been 
made.  Nevertheless,  in  many  schools  it  has  been  pretty 
thoroughly  academicized.  This  is  one  reason  why  so  few  of 
the  pupils  and  graduates  of  our  manual  training  schools  become 
craftsmen.  The  manual  training,  like  other  school  activities,  has 
been  used  largely  as  a  means  of  "general  education"  regarded  as 
an  end  in  itself  or  as  preparation  for  further  (usually  techni- 
cal) education.  As  for  sewing  and  cooking,  they  too  have  been 
urged  for  their  "psychological"  value.  But  there  has  been  more 
speedy  recognition  of  the  weightiest  reason  for  giving  them  a 
place  in  the  schools, — namely,  their  supreme  usefulness,  in  view 
of  contemporary  social  conditions  and  of  our  enormous  and  in- 
creasing immigrant  population. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  75 

It  is  strange  that  we  should  be  so  reluctant  to  admit  the 
distinctly  useful  into  our  scheme  of  public  elementary  and 
secondary  education — that  is,  to  admit  that  one  of  the  functions 
of  the  public  schools  is  to  recognize  the  claims  of  elementary 
vocational  training  as  entirely  legitimate  and  desirable.  For  the 
principle  of  vocational  training  at  the  public  expense  has  long 
been  recognized  in  the  field  of  higher  education.  The  state  nor- 
mal schools  of  the  country  have  educated  teachers  since  1839; 
the  state  universities  have  educated  teachers,  lawyers,  doctors, 
druggists,  and  engineers,  and  they  continue  to  do  so ;  and  the  state 
agricultural  colleges  give  training  in  agriculture,  and  often  in 
engineering.  Massachusetts,  though  without  a  state  university, 
has  long  aided  technical  education  by  scholarships  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts Institute  of  Technology  in  Boston,  and  the  Polytechnic 
Institute  in  Worcester,  and  by  direct  grants  of  money  to  those 
institutions.  Massachusetts  also  maintains,  partly  at  public  ex- 
pense, three  textile  schools  for  the  training  of  textile  workers  who 
desire  to  rise  in  their  calling. 

Our  elementary  schools  and  our  high  schools  together  consti- 
tute, theoretically  at  least,  one  continuous  educational  scheme 
through  which  a  youth,  whatever  his  circumstances  in  early  life 
may  be,  may  secure  the  elements  of  general  culture ;  and  through 
which,  if  his  circumstances  permit,  he  may  attain,  on  the  basis  of 
the  preparation  secured  in  school,  a  college  education,  or  enter 
at  once  on  professional  study  in  nearly  all  the  professional  schools 
of  the  country.  We  have  thus  planned  our  educational  scheme 
primarily  in  the  interests  of  those  who  have  a  long  educational 
career  ahead  of  them,  and  who  need  not  therefore  give  any  im- 
mediate attention  to  preparation  for  a  life  pursuit. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  well  known  that  the  greater  mass  of  our 
children  and  youth  are  obliged  to  leave  school  at  the  end  of  the 
grammar-school  period,  or  when  they  have  attained  the  upper 
limit  of  the  compulsory  school  age — fourteen  years,  in  most 
states.  That  is  to  say,  the  public-school  system  in  which  we  take 
a  just  pride,  as  now  planned,  does  not  reach  the  great  majority 
of  our  youth  during  the  critical  period  of  adolescence.  This  is 
the  period  when  life  aims  begin  to  have  a  serious  and  lasting  im- 
portance ;  when  the  child  becomes  a  youth ;  when  the  habits 
formed  rapidly  acquire  permanence;  when  the  plasticity  of 
earlier  years  gives  place  to  stability.  And  because  this  is  so, 
what  happens  to  him  then  is  likely  to  permanently  shape  his  fu- 
ture. Yet  during  this  period  we  send  the  great  majority  of  our 


76  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

youth  into  the  world  without  further  systematic  educational  influ- 
ence, and  usually  without  any  comprehension  of  the  serious  pur- 
poses of  life,  or  training  in  the  endeavor  to  realize  them. 

The  question  which  we  have  to  answer  is :  What  becomes 
of  the  great  majority  of  these  young  people  who  enter  their  active 
life  work  at  the  early  age  of  fourteen,  with  no  preparation  save 
that  offered  by  the  general  education  of  the  elementary  schools? 
Some  inquiry  was  made  into  this  question  in  Massachusetts  two 
•  years  ago,  and  it  was  found  that  there  are  probably  no  less  than 
twenty-five  thousand  boys  and  girls  between  the  ages  of  fourteen 
and  sixteen  who  are  not  in  school.  They  are  at  work  in  various 
kinds  of  juvenile  occupations,  or  they  are  idle.  The  boys  become 
elevator  boys,  errand  boys,  office  boys,  they  drive  a  wagon,  or  do 
other  work  in  which  they  learn  nothing,  in  which  no  demand  is 
made  on  them  for  the  application  of  what  they  learned  in  school ; 
and  consequently,  by  the  time  they  are  seventeen,  eighteen, 
twenty  or  more  years  of  age  they  have  an  earning  capacity  but 
little  greater  than  that  which  they  had  when  they  first  left  school. 
And  a  similar  fate  overtakes  the  girls.  Moreover,  the  unfortu- 
nate education  of  shifting  experience  and  environment  during 
these  years  does  much  to  destroy  both  the  substance  and  the 
spirit  of  the  education  which  they  receive  when  in  school.  The 
result  is  that  at  the  threshold  of  citizenship  the  great  majority  of 
these  young  people  are  actually  more  ignorant  than  they  were 
when  they  left  school.  They  are  sophisticated,  to  be  sure;  but 
they  have  seldom  acquired  the  characteristics  of  substantial  man- 
hood and  womanhood;  and,  as  I  have  just  said,  economically  they 
are  but  little  more  valuable  than  they  were  when  they  began  to 
work.  They  have  not  become  increasingly  valuable  "economic 
units."  And  the  reason,  of  course,  is  that  in  the  unskilled  pur- 
suits which  they  have  followed  it  was  impossible  to  acquire  the 
character,  knowledge,  and  skill  which  would  give  them  an  earning 
capacity  proportionate  to  their  years. 

It  is  clear  that  the  most  valuable  resources  which  any  state  has 
are  its  young  men  (and  young  women).  It  is  clear  that  the 
greatest  waste  is  the  waste  of  these  resources.  The  failure  to 
develop  them  to  their  fullest  capacity  is  an  irredeemable  failure. 
Boys  are  not  wanted  in  the  industries  until  they  are  sixteen  years 
of  age,  and  in  some  industries  they  are  not  wanted  until  they  are 
past  seventeen.  If,  therefore,  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and 
seventeen  these  boys  are  allowed  to  drift,  if  they  go  about  from 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  77 

one  occupation  to  another  in  which  they  do  not  develop  such 
capacity  for  mechanical  pursuits  as  they  have,  or  if  they  remain 
in  school  and  the  academic  traditions  prevalent  there  turn  them 
away  from  the  trades,  as  is  not  uncommon,  they  too  commonly  go 
to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  unskilled;  and  as  they  grow  older,  of 
the  dissatisfied,  the  stranded,  and  the  dependent. 

Although  boys  are  not  wanted  in  the  industries  until  they  are 
sixteen  years  of  age,  the  years  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  are, 
nevertheless,  exceedingly  valuable  years  for  education — an  edu- 
cation that  teaches  them  the  significance  of  a  skilled  vocation, 
and  that  helps  them  to  explore  their  capacities  and  their  tastes 
for  the  vocations  in  which  skilled  labor  is  needed.  These  years 
are,  therefore,  extremely  valuable  for  purposes  of  industrial  edu- 
cation. What  the  nature  of  that  education  might  be  I  shall  de- 
scribe later  on.  I  shall  first  sketch  the  difficulty  which  boys  now 
find  in  learning  a  trade  without  special  preparation  for  it. 

Under  the  specialized  condition  of  modern  industry  it  is 
usually  exceedingly  difficult  for  a  man  to  learn  his  trade  in  the 
shop,  and  sometimes  impossible.  The  old  apprenticeship  system, 
which  enabled  a  man  to  learn  the  whole  of  a  trade,  is  dead.  It  is 
well  known  that  to-day  the  man  in  the  shop  works  at  a  part  of  the 
product  with  a  given  machine,  and  knows  little  of  what  is  done 
toward  the  completion  of  that  product  by  other  men  and  other 
machines.  He  is  a  narrow  specialist,  working  day  by  day  at  the 
same  kind  of  work  under  precisely  the  same  conditions,  the  ma- 
chine requiring  but  little  exercise  of  thought  or  ingenuity. 
Usually  he  knows  little  or  nothing  about  the  machine  itself.  The 
shop  has  machinists  who  repair  the  machines.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances a  man  loses  the  habit  of  thinking,  since  no  demand  is 
made  on  him  for  thought.  It  is  true  that  all  men  have  not  "all 
the  conveniences  for  thinking,"  even  if  they  were  called  upon  to 
think,  but  under  the  exigencies  of  the  modern  shop  the  habit 
of  thinking  is  rarely  developed.  This  specialization  in  modern  in- 
dustry is,  however,  highly  profitable  to  the  manufacturer.  It  is 
one  of  the  reasons  why  goods  can  be  produced  so  quickly  and  so 
cheaply.  It  is,  therefore,  like  other  modern  developments,  a 
condition  which  will  survive. 

In  a  shop  if  a  man  wishes  to  learn  his  trade,  he  has,  as  I  said 
a  moment  ago,  great  difficulty  in  attaining  his  end. 

What  happens,  then,  to  our  ambitious  young  man  who  persists 
in  his  intention  to  learn  his  trade?  He  quits,  and  applies  for 


78  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

work  at  another  shop,  asking  for  work  at  another  machine,  say- 
ing that  he  is,  let  us  say,  a  lathe  hand.  Meanwhile,  he  has 
naturally  become  somewhat  familiar  with  a  lathe  and  knows 
something  about  the  working  of  it.  Shortly  after  he  begins  his 
work  as  a  lathe  hand,  the  foreman  comes  around  to  see  how  he  is 
getting  along,  looks  at  the  work,  and  says,  "You  can't  do  this 
work;  you  can  go."  Naturally  the  man  has  to  go  to  another 
shop,  and  there  the  process  is  repeated  with  the  possibility,  how- 
ever, of  a  longer  stay.  This  procedure  an  ambitious  man  will 
continue  until  he  has  made  himself,  by  repeated  changes  and  brief 
periods  of  practice,  a  lathe  hand  and  can  do  satisfactory  work. 
I  have  heard  of  one  man  who  repeated  this  process  nineteen  times 
in  his  endeavor  to  learn  his  trade.  It  won't  do  to  talk  to  such  a 
man  about  the  dignity  of  labor.  By  such  a  procedure  a  man  may 
require  six  or  seven  years  to  learn  his  trade ;  and  even  then  he 
comomnly  learns  only  the  processes  of  the  trade  and  not  the 
theoretical  foundations  of  it.  The  mathematics,  drawing,  sci- 
ence, and  the  rest,  applicable  to  his  particular  trade,  are  inacces- 
sible to  him.  He  has  little  opportunity  to  develop  "industrial  in- 
telligence" and  the  "shop  and  business  ethics"  that  grow  out  of 
insight  into  and  consequent  interest  in  his  work,  and  the  sense  of 
responsibility  born  of  conscious  resources  as  a  workman  and  a 
man.  Consequently,  although  he  is  better  equipped  for  steady 
work  and  for  possible  promotion  to  a  foremanship  than  the  ordi- 
nary specialist,  his  further  progress  is  obstructed,  if  not  pre- 
vented, just  at  the  point  where  he  could  become  most  valuable  to 
himself  and  to  his  employer. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  great  mass  of  young  workmen 
are  not  ambitious  and  persistent  enough  to  follow  so  difficult  a 
road  in  learning  their  trades.  The  result  is  that  most  of  them 
fall  by  the  way;  they  become  narrow  workmen  who  can  handle  a 
single  machine  only,  and  whose  prospects  of  an  upward  career  in 
their  trades  are  consequently  very  meagre. 

Now  let  us  follow  the  body  of  ambitious  workmen  whom  I 
have  described  as  persisting  against  tremendous  odds  in  learning 
their  trades  so  that  they  can  be  useful  in  any  part  of  the  shop, 
and,  if  possible,  rise  to  the  grade  of  foreman.  Such  men  consti- 
tute an  army  of  workers  who  are  going  from  one  factory  to  an- 
other, "stealing  their  trades,"  as  the  phrase  is.  These  men  spend 
too  many  of  the  most  valuable  years  of  their  lives  in  overcoming 
obstacles  to  a  career  of  usefulness — years  that  should  represent 
steady  progress  in  that  career.  Moreover,  they  cannot  become 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  79 

attached  to  a  locality,  and  the  steadying  and  inspiring  sense  of 
usefulness  to  a  single  employer  or  manufacturing  concern  cannot 
be  realized. 

Many  manufacturers  have  encouraged  their  employees  to  seek 
instruction  by  correspondence,  and  the  extent  to  which  our 
artisans  avail  themselves  of  such  instruction  is  remarkable.  For 
example,  out  of  seventeen  hundred  employees  in  a  well-known  es- 
tablishment, three  hundred  were,  last  year,  enrolled  in  correspond- 
ence courses.  This  is  decidedly  creditable  to  American  workmen, 
and  it  is  not  discreditable  to  the  correspondence  schools.  But  the 
disadvantages  of  instruction  by  correspondence  only  are  great 
and  obvious.  Moreover,  since  a  considerable  number  of  those 
who  enroll  in  correspondence  courses  do  not,  for  various  reasons, 
continue  them,  a  considerable  part  of  the  money  paid  for  such 
courses  is  wasted.  They  do,  however,  afford  the  sole  available 
means  to  many  persistent  and  ambitious  men,  to  secure  the  theo- 
retical instruction  on  which  their  upward  career  depends.  Be- 
sides the  correspondence  schools,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  other  phil- 
anthropies offer  some  opportunities  for  industrial  education  to 
men  already  employed  in  the  trades.  Public  schools  for  trade  in- 
struction, aside  from  the  public  evening  drawing-schools,  are  very 
rare. 

It  may  seem  odd  that  under  such  circumstances  the  manufac- 
turers themselves  have  not  more  frequently  established  schools  in 
connection  with  their  establishments  for  the  training  of  appren- 
tices. But  it  is  clear  that  such  schools  are  expensive,  if  they  are 
in  the  interests  of  the  workmen  as  well  as  of  the  employer.  And 
hence  only  the  largest  manufacturers  can  undertake  such  appren- 
tice schools  anyway.  There  are  a  few  such  schools ;  but  generally 
the  manufacturer  prefers  to  employ  the  man  who  already  knows 
one  machine.  He  gets  his  foremen  from  other  shops,  or  from 
Europe ;  or  he  may  try  to  train  the  foremen  he  needs  in  his  own 
shop,  usually  with  many  disappointing  experiences. 

Nothing  is  clearer,  however,  than  that  the  means  hitherto  em- 
ployed are  inadequate  to  meet  the  demand  for  skilled  labor.  Man- 
ufacturers in  all  parts  of  the  country  declare  that  if  they 
could  find  the  skilled  help  which  they  need,  they  could  double 
their  plants  and  hence  largely  increase  or  double  their  output,  and 
that  they  never  have  as  many  foremen  as  they  need.  On  every 
hand  the  need  of  skilled  labor  is  deplored,  and  yet  we  have  done 
and  are  doing  comparatively  little  to  meet  this  need. 

There  is  a  specious  American  complacency  which  stands  in  the 


8o  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

way  of  the  proper  development  of  our  industry  and  commerce. 
The  remarkable  prosperity  of  the  United  States  is  due  chiefly 
to  three  causes :  the  great  abundance  of  our  raw  materials,  our 
ingenuity  in  the  invention  of  machinery,  and  our  genius  for  com- 
mercial combinations.  Not  one  of  these  three  causes,  however, 
can  be  looked  upon  as  a  permanent  cause  of  success.  Great  in- 
roads are  being  made  on  our  raw  materials,  and  some  of  them  are 
even  now  fairly  well  used  up.  Labor-saving  machinery  and  cheap 
production  cannot  be  a  monopoly  of  the  United  States,  for  this 
machinery  is  obtainable  the  world  over.  American  commercial 
combinations  are  being  imitated  everywhere.  It  has  never  yet 
been  shown  that  the  cause  of  American  success  in  foreign  markets 
was  due  to  the  quality  of  the  goods  produced.  In  that  respect  we 
have  not  yet  made  much  progress,  and  until  we  do  we  are,  of 
course,  at  the  mercy  of  those  who  are  able  to  use  all  the  resources 
which  we  possess  and,  in  addition  to  use  them  to  better  advantage. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  SOCIAL  NEED 
FOR  CONSTRUCTIVE  HAND  WORK 

It  seems  almost  necessary  to  preface  a  discussion  of  the  psy- 
chological need  for  any  subject  in  the  school  by  a  comparison 
of  the  part  psychology  has  in  the  past  played  in  the  determina- 
tion of  the  work  of  education  with  the  function  assigned  to  it 
by  schoolmen  today.  The  great  educational  reformers — (Rous- 
seau, Pestalozzi,  Herbart,  and  Froebel — were  convinced  that  the 
fundamental  need  in  education  was  that  it  should  be  based  on 
a  sound  psychology.  So  thoroly  were  they  possessed  with  this 
point  of  view  that  they  looked  to  psychology  to  determine  not 
only  the  method  but  also  the  aim  of  education.  The  problem 
of  the  schoolmaster  they  conceived  to  be  a  development  of  that 
which  is  potential  within  the  child.  In  this  attitude  they  were 
protesting  against  an  endeavor  to  enforce  upon  him  a  number 
of  disagreeable  tasks  more  or  less  remotely  connected  with  the 
busines  of  life.  Even  Herbart,  with  his  emphasis  on  the  impor- 
tance of  the  external  process  of  instruction,  agreed  that  the 
aim  of  education  is  "the  harmonious  development  of  all  the 

1  By  Ernest  N.  Henderson.  National  Education  Association,  Proceed- 
ings. 1910:666-75. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  81 

powers"  or,  according  to  his  phraseology,  the  development  of 
"many  sided  interest."  Education  according  to  this  view  aims 
at  personal  culture,  at  realizing  the  self,  at  bringing  to  light  the 
possibilities  that  God  implanted  in  the  child ;  these  are  all  methods 
of  stating  the  purpose  of  education  which  leave  to  the  psychol- 
ogist the  problem  of  determining  its  specific  character.  For 
who  but  he  whose  study  concerns  the  nature  of  the  mind  can  be 
expected  to  know  its  potentialities? 

The  theory  that  psychology  should  determine  not  only  the 
method  but  also  the  aim  of  instruction  possessed  the  minds  of 
the  earlier  advocates  of  manual  training  in  the  United  States. 
Among  the  important  characteristics  of  the  child  is  the  fact  that 
he  has  a  body  and  is  capable  of  doing  an  enormous  number  of 
things  with  it.  Moreover,  he  is  intensely  interested  in  doing 
many  of  these  things.  For  a  long  time  the  physical  activities  are 
rather  more  in  evidence  than  the  mental  ones,  and  all  of  the 
instincts  point  toward  them.  Soon  the  instinct  of  constructive- 
ness  appears,  fashioning  the  form  of  many  games.  The  teacher, 
alert  to  the  potentialities  of  the  child,  marks  the  power  and  the 
instinct  to  use  the  hand,  and  cultivates  it  to  insure  that  perfectly 
developed  man  toward  whom  his  task  is  conceived  to  direct  it- 
self. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that,  from  the  standpoint  of  aiming 
to  prepare  its  pupils  for  efficient  living,  the  modern  school  is 
more  and  more  compelled  to  take  into  account  both  constructive 
work  and  the  study  of  industry  as  a  fundamentally  important 
group  of  subjects.  There  is  a  social  need  for  such  work.  But 
in  the  endeavor  to  fit  it  into  the  course  of  study  difficulties 
arise.  Since  the  work  is  commonly  recognized  as  vocational, 
many  parents  see  no  need  of  it  for  children  who  are  not  ex- 
pected to  pursue  the  callings  to  which  it  is  supposed  to  lead. 
This  is  especially  true  of  the  constructive  work,  the  survival 
of  "manual  training."  It  finds  difficulty  in  making  its  way  into 
the  earlier  part  of  the  curriculum,  which  is  necessarily  the  same 
for  all.  To  effect  this  entrance  and  to  maintain  its  ground,  it 
has  been  compelled  to  assume  generalized  forms  that  seem  to 
constitute  integral  parts  in  the  culture  of  everyone.  Moreover, 
it  has  been  tempted  to  defend  these  forms  not  on  account  of  its 
somwhat  remote  utility,  but  rather  on  the  ground  of  the  older 
psychological  arguments  of  discipline  and  all-round  develop- 
ment. If  these  arguments  are,  as  seems  inevitable,  to  be  aban- 


82  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

doned,  it  is  evident  that  the  elementary  school  must  find  and 
teach  that  phrase  of  industrial  life  that  is  suited  to  children  and 
useful  to  all  and  cease  to  rely  on  the  cultivation  thru  manual 
training  of  such  general  powers  as  accuracy,  moral  rectitude, 
co-ordination  of  eye  and  brain  and  hand,  etc. 

Many  considerations  conspire  to  make  wise  the  postpone- 
ment of  the  more  purely  vocational  part  of  constructive  work 
and  the  study  of  industry  until  at  least  the  dawn  of  adolescence. 
It  is  specialized  work  and  to  introduce  such  training  early  seems 
bad  for  at  least  three  reasons:  (i)  It  encourages  differentiation 
before  the  child  has  revealed  himself  to  others  or  has  discovered 
his  own  tastes  and  aptitudes.  (2)  It  initiates  specialization 
before  a  child  has  obtained  the  general  foundations  of  his  cul- 
ture and  while  he  is  still  immature.  Many  declare  that  this  leads 
to  prematuration  and  to  arrested  development.  (3)  It  tries 
to  teach  children  what  can  be  learned  effectively  only  by  older 
persons  and  especially  under  the  pressure  of  practical  need. 
This  results  in  a  waste  of  time. 

The  problem  of  constructive  work  and  of  the  study  industry 
has  thus  very  quickly  resolved  itself  into  one  of  determining 
on  the  one  hand  the  elements  of  general  culture  and  on  the  other 
those  of  specialization  that  these  subjects  involve.  This  analy- 
sis completed,  the  two  factors  can  be  assigned  to  different  parts 
of  the  school  program.  The  special  training  can  well  be  post- 
poned until  the  work  of  the  elementary  school  has  been  finished. 
The  general  culture  would  need  to  be  properly  correlated  with 
the  age  of  the  pupils  and  general  arrangements  of  studies  in 
the  school.  Herein  the  issue  comes  to  involve  questions  of  the 
psychological  needs  of  childhood. 

Before  taking  up  these  questions,  however,  let  us  note  a  little 
more  carefully  the  nature  of  that  general  social  need  at  the 
behest  of  which  the  studies  in  question  should  be  introduced 
into  the  elementary  school.  It  is  evident  that  their  general  util- 
ity is  not  identical  with  what  it  has  been  in  the  past.  With  the 
development  of  industry  into  more  and  more  elaborate  originiza- 
tions  of  highly  specialized  activities,  the  all-round  manual  skill 
so  important  in  both  men  and  women  a  generation  ago  is  ceas- 
ing to  be  an  especially  valuable  source  of  efficiency.  On  the 
other  hand  economic  interdependence  is  becoming  greater,  and 
it  is  growing  increasingly  important  for  each  to  know  many 
things  in  order  to  keep  his  activities  socially  and  vocationally  in 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  83 

efficient  co-operation  with  the  activities  of  others  in  different 
walks  of  life.  The  substitution  of  economic  interdependence  for 
economic  independence  has  made  it  necessary  for  each,  if  he  be 
not  to  descend  into  the  position  of  a  mere  tool  of  the  social 
machine,  to  be  taken  up  or  laid  aside  at  the  will  of  those  who 
use  him,  to  understand  the  relation  of  his  vocation  to  others 
well  enough  to  exert  a  controlling  influence  in  reference  to  its 
status  and  its  development.  He  must  be  able  not  only  to  re- 
adjust himself  to  changes  in  his  vocation,  but  to  assist  in  the 
work  of  readjusting  his  vocation  to  the  varying  conditions  of 
community  life.  To  do  this  he  needs  a  general  knowledge  of 
many  vocations.  The  world  of  industry  in  general  becomes  of 
importance  to  him  as  well  as  his  own  specialty. 

It  is  to  the  tasks  of  laying  the  foundations  for  a  general 
knowledge  of  industrial  life  that  the  elementary  school  must 
address  itself.  In  this  work  mere  manual  training  becomes 
subordinated  to  the  study  of  industry,  as  a  method  rather  than 
an  aim  of  instruction.  The  group  of  subjects  becomes  an  intro- 
duction to  a  fundamental  phase  of  economic  life  and  serves  a 
utility  quite  as  definite  as  that  of  instruction  in  the  three  R's  or 
in  geography.  Culture  having  this  general  aim  may  well  continue 
after  the  study  of  specific  vocations  has  begun.  The  more  effec- 
tively it  is  mastered  the  more  surely,  we  may  suppose,  will  the 
trained  man  be  master  of  his  vocation  rather  than  its  slave. 

Whatever  may  be  the  factors  in  industrial  intelligence,  it  is 
evident  that  one  is  a  knowledge  of  the  general  facts  of  eco- 
nomic and  industrial  life  such  as  enables  the  individual  to  see 
clearly  the  relation  of  his  own  vocation  thereto.  Upon  such 
knowledge  is  founded  sound  judgment  as  to  the  rights  and 
duties  of  each  craft  as  well  as  of  its  possibilities  and  necessities. 

We  turn  now  to  the  psychological  problem — the  problem  of 
adjusting  constructive  work  and  the  study  of  industry  to  the 
nature  of  the  child.  It  may  be  said  of  both,  and  especially  of 
the  former,  that  nature  has  left  the  schoolmaster  little  to  do. 
Children  inherit  so  great  an  interest  in  such  activity  that  it,  so 
far  from  needing  aid  in  order  to  be  made  enjoyable,  constitutes 
one  of  the  most  effective  means  of  arousing  interest  in  any  sub- 
ject that  can  be  taught  thru  its  assistance.  Jhose  educational 
reformers,  who  have  striven  to  reorganize  education,  making  it 
more  interesting  and  more  in  accord  with  the  nature  of  the  child 
have  usually  been  pronounced  advocates  of  constructive  work. 


84  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

We  may  distinguish  between  two  general  uses  for  which  it  has 
been  employed,  (a)  to  give  motive  for  school  work  otherwise 
meaningless  and  uninteresting,  and  (b)  to  render  more  posi- 
tive and  lasting  the  results  of  instruction. 

As  a  means  of  motivation  constructive  work  possesses  the 
following  advantages :  ( I )  It  appeals  to  the  love  of  activity, 
especially  physical  activity  so  prominent  in  children.  To  younger 
children  the  mere  making  of  things  seems  worth  while  apart 
from  any  uses  to  which  the  product  may  be  out.  (2)  It  appeals 
to  the  primitive  interest  in  the  concrete,  that  which  represents 
processes  and  results  easily  apprehended  by  both  sight  and 
touch  and  the  muscular  sense.  In  such  material  young  children 
are  absorbed,  and  it  is  astonishing  how  little  general  meaning 
or  value  is  necessary  to  insure  their  interest,  provided  the  mate- 
rial with  which  they  are  working  be  of  this  tangible  character. 
(3)  Constructive  work  connects  itself  with  occupations  and 
products  the  utility  of  which  is  seen  illustrated  in  the  every- 
day life  about  the  child.  Indeed  they  are  about  the  first  utilities 
to  be  grasped  by  the  child's  mind. 

When  we  turn  to  the  value  of  constructive  work  as  a  means 
of  strengthening  the  results  of  instruction  we  distinguish  two 
fundamental  advantages:  (i)  It  furnishes  one  of  the  easiest 
and  most  effective  ways  of  applying  the  principle  that  learning 
should,  or,  as  the  "functional"  psychologist  puts  it,  must  be  by 
doing.  (2)  It  teaches  through  the  application  of  principles  to 
a  sort  of  practice  more  nearly  simliar  to  that  of  the  life-situa- 
tions in  which  these  principles  are  expected  to  function  than  is 
that  of  much  of  the  school. 

The  newer  psychology  takes  the  ground  that  we  do  not  at- 
tend, do  not  discriminate,  and  so  are  not  conscious,  except  when 
this  is  necessary  to  bring  about  readjustment  between  reaction 
and  stimuli.  Learning  is  always  connected  with  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  our  modes  of  behavior.  Apart  from  constructive  work 
the  school  presents  only  one  form  of  physical  activity  of  great 
importance.  This  is  that  of  language  either  oral  or  written,  and 
the  great  aim  of  such  activity  is  to  come  into  adjustment  with 
certain  standard  words,  notably  those  of  the  teacher.  Now  while 
such  activity  must  always  remain  one  of  the  most  fruitful  oc- 
casions for  learning  inasmuch  as  nothing  can  vie  with  the  social 
situation  in  offering  emergencies  for  readjustment  it  is  exceed- 
ing valuable  not  to  be  limited  in  school  doing  and  learning  to 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  85 

this  sort  of  thing.  The  addition  of  the  endeavor  to  manipulate 
materials  supplies  a  characteristically  different  sort  of  emer- 
gency. In  adjusting  himself  to  other  minds  the  child  is  dealing 
with  persons  who  are  continually  by  their  own  efforts  furthering 
or  hindering  his  endeavors.  In  either  event,  the  condition  of 
dependence  is  emphasized.  The  child  is  led  to  consider  success 
or  failure  to  be  a  matter  of  the  point  of  view  of  others ;  and 
this  point  of  view  may  be  and  all  too  frequently  is  dependent 
upon  circumstance  and  mood,  inaccurate,  uncertain,  transitory, 
unjust,  or  absurdly  compliant  and  easy  rather  than  fixed,  true, 
and  inevitable.  The  methods  of  dealing  with  minds  vary  from 
cajolery  and  domineering  to  persuasion  and  the  appeal  to  the 
sense  of  right.  In  any  case  they  differ  greatly  from  the  dealing 
with  mere  physical  materials,  where  there  is  one  law,  the  mastery 
of  which  is  the  only  method  of  securing  results,  and  where  the 
child  can  have  no  thought  except  that  of  simple  direct  control. 
It  is  an  unquestionable  addition  to  the  resources  of  the  child 
that  he  has  accustomed  himself  to  deal  intelligently  with  phys- 
ical materials  as  well  as  with  the  human  minds. 

Moreover  much  that  is  learned  in  the  school  is  intended  to 
be  applied  not  in  the  control  of  men,  but  in  the  manipulation 
of  material.  In  that  event  constructive  work  in  the  school  offers 
the  only  method  by  which  the  principles  can  there  be  applied  as 
they  would  be  in  life.  That  they  should  get  this  sort  of  school 
application  is  fundamentally  important.  Facts  learned  in  order 
to  be  recited  are,  by  a  simple  principle  of  recall,  not  apt  to  be 
remembered  where  the  circumstances  and  the  emergencies  are  so 
vastly  different  as  in  the  case  of  school  questioning  on  the  one 
hand  and  a  workshop  on  the  other.  The  more  nearly  the  school 
environment  corresponds  to  that  of  life  in  general,  the  more 
likely  it  is  that  the  ideas  learned  in  the  former  will  be  applied 
in  the  latter.  The  identity  of  principle  is  not  sufficient  with 
most  minds  to  overcome  the  effect  of  diversity  in  all  other  asso- 
ciations, and  the  mind  recalls  many  things,  but  not  that  far- 
away bit  of  school  learning  which  is  the  one  thing  useful.  It 
may  therefore  safely  be  said  that  whatever  is  to  be  applied  to 
problems  in  construction  should  be  learned  wherever  possible  in 
connection  with  such  problems. 

Very  much  the  same  analysis  that  has  been  made  of  the 
psychological  need  for  constructive  work  in  the  school  applies 
to  the  study  of  industry.  In  fact  it  deals  with  that  phase  of 


86  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

life  to  aid  in  the  study  of  which  constructive  work  finds  its 
principal  use.  Connecting  itself  with  interest  in  and  imitation 
of  the  simpler  forms  of  adult  life,  it  leads  gradually  to  a  desire 
to  participate  in  the  work  of  the  world.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  constructive  work  and  the  study  of  industry  in  the  elemen- 
tary school  will  ultimately  be  of  such  a  character  that  when  the 
pupil  reaches  the  age  at  which  the  activities  of  adult  life  make 
their  appeal,  he  will  be  able  to  make  a  wise  choice  in  reference 
to  them,  and  be  already  advanced  in  an  appreciable  measure  to- 
ward the  goal  of  his  special  vocation. 

It  is  especially  in  connection  with  relating  school  work  to 
the  realities  of  life  that  the  study  of  industry  becomes  impor- 
tant. The  public  in  a  democratic  and  commercial  and  industrial 
community  are  apt  to  find  reality  rather  more  in  such  work  than 
in  science  and  art,  literature  and  philosophy.  The  children  of 
such -a  public  are  prone  to  discover  in  the  study  of  industry 
something  that  connects  the  systematic  and  especially  the  formal 
work  of  the  school  with  the  real  problems  of  life.  Under  these 
conditions  the  school  finds  this  study  a  means  of  putting  motive 
into  many  contributory  studies  and  of  securing  such  a  setting 
for  its  teaching  as  will  make  likely  its  application  at  least  to 
the  utilitarian  pursuits  of  life. 

The  problem  of  motive  becomes  especially  difficult  in  the 
later  years  of  the  elemntary  school.  Children  at  this  time  pass, 
so  far  as  regards  their  outlook  upon  life,  into  a  distinctly  differ- 
ent phase  of  development.  We  can  bring  this  out  by  describing 
the  earlier  phases.  The  young  child  is  a  creature  of  impulse  and 
imagination,  absorbed  in  doing  or  thinking  that  which  is  im- 
mediately suggested  to  him.  Reflection  is  gradually  forced  upon 
him.  The  period  from  eight  to  twelve  is  a  critical  age,  an  age 
in  rivalry  in  games  of  the  felt  presence  of  social  criticism  and 
coercion  in  reference  to  all  the  physical  and  mental  activities 
that  the  child  puts  forth.  Under  this  pressure  he  becomes  reflec- 
tive. He  subjects  imagination  to  standards,  the  standards  of 
social  acceptability  of  truth,  of  propriety.  Such  standards  vary 
with  individuals  and  social  groups.  The  teacher  does  not  always 
agree  with  the  parents,  much  less  with  the  man  on  the  street. 
Among  the  children  groups  arise  on  the  basis  of  difference  in 
ideals.  Later  on  the  adolescent  discovers  that  among  these  war- 
ring views  of  life  he  must  choose  one  for  himself  to  be  his  own. 
He  arrives  at  the  age  of  independence  and  becomes  himself  a 
critic,  declaring  his  freedom  from  coercion. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  87 

It  is  at  this  age  that  the  rate  of  elimination  of  pupils  becomes 
portentous.  The  reasons  that  cause  children  to  leave  school 
are  very  numerous,  but  unquestionably  a  very  large  proportion, 
at  least  a  majority,  give  up  because  they  cannot  feel  that  it  will 
repay  the  sacrifice  of  effort  or  expense  or  both  that  it  involves. 
Oher  reasons  are  for  the  most  part  contributory.  This  one  is 
fundamental.  There  are  two  classes  of  children  to  whom  school 
work  does  not  seem  worth  while.  One  of  these  consists  of 
pupils  who  can  and  do  get  on  well  in  the  school  but  find  the 
activities  on  the  outside  more  interesting  and  profitable.  The 
other  is  composed  of  pupils  who  do  not  prosper  in  school.  Such 
children  naturally  grow  discontented.  No  one  can  be  expected 
to  regard  as  worth  while  for  him  that  which  he  is  incapable  of 
doing.  Moreover,  in  such  a  competitive  atmosphere  as  a  school 
merely  to  pass  means  practically  to  fail. 

Now  it  is  evident  that  just  as  constructive  work  may  offer 
the  motives  of  activity  and  the  making  of  concrete  things  to 
younger  children,  so  to  older  ones  it,  especially  when  combined 
with  a  study  of  industry,  will  seem  worth  while  to  many  of 
both  these  two  classes  of  the  ordinarily  eliminated.  For  those 
who  fail  in  the  older  studies  of  the  school,  the  constructive 
work  may  offer  a  field  for  success.  For  both  classes  it  should 
constitute  a  main  part  of  the  later  school  program.  As  an 
integral  part  of  the  preparation  for  life,  it  deserves  a  place 
proportionate  to  the  number  of  those  who  need  such  preparation 
and  the  amount  of  such  preparation  it  is  possible  and  desirable 
to  give. 

We  have  reached  again  from  the  standpoint  of  the  study  of 
the  developing  nature  of  the  child  the  issue  of  specialized  voca- 
tional training.  It  is  evident  that  the  general  training  of  the 
earlier  years  of  the  elementary  school  should  be  what  is  deemed 
necessary  to  all  and  what  introduces  those  who  are  to  specialize 
in  some  form  of  industry  to  their  work  of  specific  preparation. 
We  have  not,  however,  as  yet  considered  sufficiently  the  problem 
of  the  initial  steps  in  differentiation  or  specialization.  This  prob- 
lem is  in  our  democratic  system  one  among  the  most  difficult  and 
important  that  we  face.  It  is  a  question  whether  the  problem  of 
determining  what  the  vocation  of  the  man  shall  be  is  not  more 
difficult  and  exacting  than  that  of  preparing  him  for  what  has 
been  chosen.  The  European  systems  of  education,  which  have  not 
been  burdened  to  such  an  extent  as  our  own  with  the  ideals  of 
democracy,  have  found  it  easy  to  engraft  vocational  instruction 


88  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

upon  an  elementary  system  intended  only  for  those  destined  by 
birth  to  some  form  of  industry.  In  our  boasted  continuous  ladder 
of  schools,  where  the  elementary  school  leads  into  the  high  school 
and  the  high  school  into  the  college,  the  introduction  of  special 
training  in  industry  has  not  been  so  simple.  It  means  differentia- 
tion. It  has  seemed  like  cutting  off  from  the  children  who  took  it 
the  opportunity  for  such  careers  as  were  limited  largely  to  those 
who  had  completed  the  higher  course.  We  have  felt  that  educa- 
tion shall  give  to  all  an  equal  chance  to  attain  any  distinction  in 
life.  Hence  we  have  clung  to  a  system  associated  with  the  train- 
ing of  leaders,  even  tho  such  a  system  may  be  poorly  enough 
adapted  to  the  education  of  anyone  else. 

It  is  likely  that  we  shall  find  our  way  out  thru  a  change  in  our 
conception  of  leadership  on  the  one  hand  and  a  discovery  that  our 
time-honored  method  of  training  any  sort  of  a  leader  needs  ex- 
tensive modification,  if  not  revolution,  on  the  other.  It  is  not 
however,  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  discuss  these  changes. 
We  may  confine  ourselves  to  the  crying  need  for  a  system  of 
education  that  shall  provide  training  adequate,  in  the  first  place, 
to  enable  a  fairly  intelligent  choice  of  a  calling  to  be  made  and, 
in  the  second  place,  to  prepare  for  whatever  may  be  selected.  We 
are  fully  alive  to  the  need  for  the  second  of  these  advances.  It 
is  doubtful  whether  our  educational  leaders  have  been  in  general 
adequately  impressed  with  the  need  for  a  system  of  school  work 
the  primary  purpose  of  which  should  be  to  enable  the  pupil  to 
find  himself  and  the  teacher  to  give  him  intelligent  advice  on  the 
matter. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  development  of  the  child,  the 
age  at  which  this  process  of  experimentation  toward  a  calling 
should  be  definitely  initiated  corresponds  fairly  well  with  the 
beginning  of  the  seventh  school  year.  Its  external  symptom  is 
the  high  rate  of  elimination  from  school  at  that  time,  and  its 
internal  sign  is  the  unrest,  the  questioning  of  values,  the  begin- 
ning of  "storm  and  stress"  that  characterize  the  commencement 
of  the  age  of  independence,  of  adolescence.  It  would  seem  that 
at  this  time  the  secondary  phase  of  education  should  begin. 

There  has  been  in  our  country  some  trouble  in  defining  just 
what  secondary  education  is.  The  demarcation  between  it  and 
the  elementary  school  on  the  one  hand  and  higher  education  on 
the  other  has  been  one  of  years  and  of  studies  rather  than  of 
general  function.  There  has  been  no  clear  reason  except  custom 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  89 

and  a  felt  convenience  for  having  secondary  education  begin  and 
end  where  it  does.  It  is  possible,  however,  to  distinguish  three 
well  marked  functions  of  education,  which  might  be  assigned  to 
elementary,  secondary,  and  higher  education,  respectively,  with- 
out much  destructive  readjustment  of  our  present  system.  Ele- 
mentary education  concerns  the  essentials  and  the  fundamentals. 
It  is  the  education  that  precedes  any  attempt  at  differentiation. 
With  the  development  of  the  child  up  into  the  age  where  such 
differentiation  becomes  necessary  an  epoch  of  experimentation 
sets  in.  The  main  purpose  of  the  education  of  this  period  should 
be  to  afford  an  adequate  basis  of  experience  for  the  choice  of  a 
specialty  and  to  guide  the  process  of  selection.  Such  education 
we  may  call  secondary.  When  once  it  has  been  determined  as 
well  as  is  practically  possible  what  the  child  should  do,  the  time 
for  higher  education,  that  is,  for  a  special  preparation  for  a  voca- 
tion, has  appeared. 

On  this  plan  we  should  not  have  a  system  in  which,  while  ele- 
mentary education  is  supposed  to  be  for  all,  secondary  education 
is  only  for  a  few,  and  higher  education  for  the  very  few;  but 
each  phase  of  the  work  would  find  representation  in  the  educa- 
tion of  all  or  most  pupils.  At  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  grade 
the  work  of  experimentation  might  well  begin.  A  large  number 
of  children  have  by  this  time  demonstrated  their  unfitness  for 
what  might  be  called  a  professional  career.  For  them  the  severer 
studies,  involving  the  power  of  mind  to  grasp  and  utilize  the 
abstract  ideas  and  processes  involved  in  mathematics,  science, 
language,  etc.,  are  not  profitable.  They  should  be  given  experi- 
mental work  along  the  line  of  industrial  training  supplemented 
by  concrete  cultural  work  in  literature,  civics,  geography,  and 
science,  such  as  adapts  them  for  the  duties  of  citizenship  and  so- 
cial life.  We  may  tentatively  suggest  that  two  years  of  such 
work  put  these  children  in  the  position  of  making  an  intelligent 
choice  of  a  vocational  school  in  which  to  complete  their  educa- 
tion. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  school  year  those  whose 
mental  traits  make  it  desirable  might  enter  schools  where  the  older 
type  of  secondary  work  is  prominent.  But  we  might  expect  that 
continually  new  revelations  will  be  made  in  regard  to  the  talents 
and  tastes  of  the  pupils,  and  that  little  by  little  those  who  are 
unable  to  do  the  work  that  leads  to  the  higher  professions  will  be 
selected  out  to  enter  vocational  schools  that  prepare  primarily  for 


90  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

intermediate  positions  in  industry,  commerce,  the  civil  service, 
etc.  The  period  of  secondary  education  would  on  the  theory  pro- 
posed, extend  until  the  choice  of  a  vocation  has  been  made  on  the 
basis  of  sufficient  experience.  The  knowledge  necessary  to  make 
such  a  choice  is  of  necessity  more  extensive,  the  more  advanced 
the  vocation.  Properly  speaking,  the  secondary  school  would  in- 
clude the  present  liberal  college  course. 

The  characteristic  feature  of  the  secondary  school  on  this 
theory  is  the  emphasis  upon  experimentation  and  selection.  In 
such  a  school  the  experimental  subject  would  be  especially  prom- 
inent. This  may  be  defined  as  a  subject  studied  primarily  for  the 
sake  of  finding  the  extent  of  its  appeal  to  the  powers  and  interest 
of  the  student.  Experimental  studies  therefore  should  not  be 
elective  but  prescribed,  for  their  function  is  to  compel,  as  it  were, 
the  student  to  explore  the  field  of  human  thought  and  endeavor 
adequately  before  he  is  permitted  to  settle  upon  his  peculiar 
specialty. 

An  adequate  range  of  experimentation  would  involve  the  sec- 
ondary but  by  no  means  unimportant  gain  of  a  broad  outlook 
upon  life.  Thus  the  student  will  be  getting  his  liberal  culture  to 
a  great  extent  while  he  is  engaged  in  the  process  of  selecting  his 
vocation.  The  study  of  industry  and  constructive  work  would 
thus  constitute  factors  not  only  in  the  elementary  but  also  in  the 
secondary  education  of  every  student.  All  children  would  have 
enough  of  them  to  know  and  to  do  the  things  that  they  concern 
in  so  far  as  they  enter  into  the  life  of  it  all.  Every  student 
should  have  enough  more  such  study  to  enable  him,  no  matter 
what  his  calling  may  be,  to  understand  and  to  sympathize  and  co- 
operate with  those  whose  life  work  lies  in  these  fields.  The 
process  of  differentiation  initiated  by  the  completion  of  the  ele- 
mentary course  would  still  leave  to  all  some  further  work  along 
such  lines  both  for  experimentation  and  culture.  We  may  assume 
that  when  the  experimental  work  has  been  completed  the  needs  of 
culture  will  have  been  in  most  cases  fairly  well  satisfied. 

The  current  usage  assigns  vocational  schools  of  the  trade- 
school  or  technical  school  type  to  secondary  rather  than  to  higher 
education,  where  they  would  be  placed  according  to  the  classifi- 
cation just  suggested.  This  arises  historically  because  such  work 
is  usually  taken  in  lieu  of  the  secondary  training  in  the  older  sort. 
The  classification  made  in  the  preceding  discussion  aims  to  pro- 
vide a  basis  for  the  determination  of  the  character  and  function 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  91 

of  constructive  work  and  the  study  of  industry  as  we  go  from  the 
age  of  elementary  education  on  into  that  of  experimentation  to- 
ward a  vocation  and  further  into  that  of  specialized  preparation 
for  the  one  selected. 


SPECIAL  NEED  OF  THE  NE'ER-DO-WELL1 

The  opportunities,  interests,  and  duties  of  life  to-day  for  the 
modern  boy  or  girl  living  in  an  industrial  community  and  for 
those  that  lived  in  rural  communities  of  fifty  years  ago  are  not 
the  same.  Since  our  public-school  system  is  the  institution  as- 
signed by  society  to  prepare  our  boys  and  girls  for  life,  it  must 
accordingly  change,  add,  or  modify  the  traditional  course  of 
study  to  meet  these  additional  educational  needs.  This  means  that 
the  school  must  supervise  the  child  during  the  whole  educational 
process, — when  the  child  enters  school,  the  training  provided  for 
him,  the  age  at  which  he  goes  to  work,  the  character  of  the  work 
he  performs,  and  his  proper  training  and  guidance  while  he  is 
working,  and  until  he  reaches  the  threshold  of  manhood  or 
womanhood,  at  eighteen  or  nineteen  years  of  age. 

The  traditional  course  of  study  must  be  changed  from  the  first 
to  the  last  grade  so  that  it  will  educate  the  whole  boy  and  girl  of 
this  day.  Special  attention  should  be  devoted  to  the  aptitudes  of 
the  great  mass  of  children  who  are  motor-minded  and  who  must 
be  reached  through  the  manual  and  objective  methods  of  teach- 
ing. A  manual-training  class  should  be  attached  to  every  school 
in  this  country.  Children  as  soon  as  they  go  to  school  should  be 
taught  to  use  their  hands,  as  the  father  and  mother  did  in  the 
rural  communities  a  generation  ago.  It  is  very  important  that 
they  should  be  taught  when  they  are  young.  When  a  motor- 
minded  pupil  arrives  at  the  age  of  adolescence,  prevocational 
classes  should  be  established  so  that  his  interest  in  academic 
work  will  be  continued  by  correlating  it  with  his  vocational  in- 
terests,— that  is,  practical  work.  The  aim  of  all  this  will  be  to 
make  every  boy  and  girl,  when  he  reaches  the  age  of  fourteen, 
know  how  to  use  his  hands  with  some  degree  of  skill,  to  be 
"handy"  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  academic  work.  For  the 

1  From  "Education  of  the  Ne'er-do-well."  p.  25-31.  By  William  H. 
Dooley.  Copyright  1916,  by  William  H.  Dooley. 


92  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

majority  this  will  not  necessitate  any  more  hours  of  school  work. 
We  have  evidence  that,  by  reducing  the  time  alloted  to  academic 
work  and  substituting  manual  work,  the  mind  is  stimulated.  By 
so  doing,  the  child  will  not,  as  soon  as  the  law  allows,  leave 
school  with  that  feeling  of  repulsion  that  is  so  prevalent  to-day. 

Manufacturers  find  that  it  is  necessary  to  employ  juveniles  to 
maintain  a  scale  of  wages  adjusted  to  the  skill  required  and  the 
amount  of  work  performed  in  a  plant.  To  illustrate :  If  a  manu- 
facturer pays  a  person  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  a  day  for 
placing  empty  spools  on  a  spinning  frame  in  place  of  full  ones, 
who  then  rests  a  half-hour,  it  causes  dissatisfaction  among  the 
other  help  who  work  continuously  for  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  a  day.  This  is  one  of  the  important  reasons  why  juvenile 
help  is  employed  in  our  factories.  We  sometimes  think  that  child 
labor  is  cheap  and  that  that  is  the  reason  it  is  employed.  Cheap- 
ness of  labor  is  not  sufficient  to  attain  industrial  success.  Cheap 
hands  must  be  taught,  and  taught  well,  or  work  in  the  end  will 
cost  more  than  that  of  more  experienced  hands  who  possess 
greater  skill  and  have  acquired  more  understanding  of  their 
work. 

The  problem  before  us  in  regard  to  child  labor  is  to  retain 
our  industrial  supremacy,  our  present  industrial  organization  of 
highly  specialized  work,  and  to  develop  the  whole  boy  and  girl 
so  that  we  may  have  successful  men  and  women  with  industrial 
habits  to  live  useful  and  happy  lives.  This  cannot  be  done  by 
groups  of  social  workers  in  this  country  attempting  to  tear  down 
our  industrial  system  by  forcing  unjust  legislation  on  the  com- 
munity, such  as  compulsory  full-time  education  for  children  up  to 
sixteen  years  of  age  or  over.  In  spite  of  the  many  assertions 
from  social  leaders  to  the  contrary,  the  experience  of  educators 
in  this  country  and  abroad  who  have  made  a  study  of  education 
in  large  factory  centers  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  a  positive 
harm  to  retain  the  great  mass  of  children  between  the  age  of 
fourteen  to  sixteen  in  school  on  a  full-time  basis.  These  children 
have  neither  the  mental  equipment  nor  the  interest  to  devote  so 
much  time  to  academic  work.  They  have  descended  from  ances- 
tors who  mature  early  in  life  and  have  intensely  practical  ideas, 
and  therefore  should  develop  useful  industrial  habits  during  the 
early  part  of  adolescence. 

Our  social  and  industrial  system  is  a  growth,  and  we  are  at 
the  present  time  passing  through  a  period  of  change  in  it,  the  like 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  93 

of  which  has  never  been  experienced  in  any  equal  space  of  time 
during  the  world's  history.  Any  attempt  to  degrade  our  factory 
system,  particularly  the  textile  industry,  which  employs  practically 
two-thirds  of  the  children  that  have  left  school  as  soon  as  the  law 
allows,  by  saying,  "It  is  ignorance  on  the  part  of  parents  who 
allow  the  child  to  enter  the  mill  or  factory,  and  that  neither 
power  nor  advantage  is  gained  by  entering  the  industry  at  an 
early  age,  and  the  child  who  does  enter  associates  himself  with 
our  most  undesirable  population,"  is  detrimental  to  the  child  and 
to  organized  industry. 

All  this  means  readjustments  of  our  social  institutions,  par- 
ticularly the  educational  system.  The  school  and  factory  must 
work  hand  in  hand.  The  school  must  supplement  the  factory  in 
such  a  way  as  to  overcome  the  deadening  effect  of  highly  special- 
ized work,  and  at  the  same  time  give  a  training  that  will  develop 
the  child  so  that  when  he  has  passed  his  usefulness  in  that  juven- 
ile work  he  may  have  the  training  and  intelligence  to  enter  other 
lines  of  work. 

In  order  to  do  this  effectively,  we  must  provide  for  working 
girls  and  youths  opportunities  on  a  part-time  system,  an  educa- 
tion which  will  meet  with  their  interests  and  tastes,  assisting  each 
to  become  proficient  in  some  line  of  skilled  work  that  he  may 
enter  after  passing  his  usefulness  in  the  so-called  "blind-alley" 
positions. 

The  educational  training  on  a  part-time  basis  for  the  boy  in 
the  so-called  skilled  occupations,  where  there  are  sufficient  oppor- 
tunities for  him  to  remain  all  his  life,  should  be  for  greater  effi- 
ciency .and  civic  betterment.  For  the  boy  in  the  so-called  unskilled 
and  factory  occupations,  where  there  is  a  lack  of  opportunity  for 
further  advancement,  there  should  be  trade  training,  so  that  he 
may  receive  during  the  years  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  the  be- 
ginning of  a  skilled  trade,  so  that  he  may  be  accepted,  at  the  end 
of  b/ls  "$ead-end"  employment,  into  one  of  the  skilled  trades  as 
a  iigrCiul  beginner. 

For  the  girls  in  skilled  vocations,  the  training  must  be  for 
greater  efficiency,  a  supplementary  trade  training  in  case  of 
seasonable  employments  and  a  training  in  housekeeping.  Since 
women  have  more  or  less  to  do  with  the  home,  it  is  doubtful  if 
there  is  a  more  effective  system  of  education  than  housekeeping. 
It  will  bring  both  health  and  happiness  to  the  home.  On  account 
of  the  unsatisfactory  environment  of  both  home  and  neighbor- 


94  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

hood,  the  school  must  assume  also  the  burden  of  looking  after 
the  physical  as  well  as  the  mental  development  of  the  child.  Dur- 
ing the  school  session,  organized  games  and  physical  exercise 
should  be  taught.  In  this  manner  i-t  is  possible  to  continue  the 
interest  of  the  child  in  school  work,  to  conserve  and  increase  his 
knowledge  to  meet  daily  needs.  In  addition  the  school  should 
follow  up  the  boys  and  girls  while  they  are  working  and  give 
them  helpful  advice.  Vocational  advisers  should  assist  and  direct 
children  in  selecting  vocations  and  while  attending  compulsory 
part-time  school.  Intelligent  selection  of  an  occupation  is  the 
result  of  intelligent  preparation.  We  cannot  expect  young  people 
to  find  themselves  vocationally  without  furnishing  them  with  raw 
material  for  thoughtful  selection.  Our  public-school  system 
should  audit  our  social  and  industrial  accounts  and  publish  the 
opportunities  available  to  young  people,  that  they  may  choose 
their  life-work  scientifically,  and  in  this  way  reduce  our  scrap- 
heap  of  unskilled  labor  to  a  minimum. 

"Blind-alley"  jobs  will  then  become  ports  of  entry  into  more 
skilled  and  profitable  positions. 


SOME  SOCIOLOGICAL  PHASES  OF  THE 

MOVEMENT  FOR  INDUSTRIAL 

EDUCATION1 

To  one  who  studies  the  present  movement  for  vocational  edu- 
cation, and  especially  that  phase  of  it  which  we  designate  "indus- 
trial education,"  the  conviction  becomes  more  firmly  fixed  that  its 
impulse  springs  from  those  profound  forces  which  seem-  to  be 
impelling  a  general  social  advance  and  which  are  dominated  by 
the  desire  to  secure  for  the  less  prosperous  half  of  the  population 
a  larger  share  in  the  good  things  of  life. 

Representatives  of  this  less  prosperous  half,  to  bring  this 
about,  are  working  for  the  establishment  of  minimum-wage 
boards,  old-age  pensions,  industrial  insurance,  employers'  liability 
laws,  and  adequate  education  for  themselves  and  for  their  chil- 
dren. 

Representatives  of  the  so-called  ruling  clasess  are  frequently 

1  By  F.  M.  Leavitt.  National  Education  Association.  Proceedings.  1912: 
922-6. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  95 

found  to  be  working  for  essentially  the  same  ends  with  the  belief 
that  in  this  way  only  can  be  averted  a  struggle  between  employers 
and  employed  which,  wanting  a  more  equitable  adjustment  of 
present  conditions,  may  be  fraught  with  grave  and  destructive 
consequences. 

At  all  events  it  seems  to  be  reaching  the  social  consciousness 
that  individual  efficiency  and  the  individual's  sense  of  his  respon- 
sibility to  society  must  be  enormously  increased. 

In  working  out  the  solution  of  these  complex  problems  there  is 
probably  no  single  institution  in  which  society  in  general  places 
as  much  dependence  as  it  does  in  the  public  schools.  It  is  be- 
coming evident  however,  that  an  increasingly  large  percentage  of 
all  who  are  relying  on  the  public  schools  in  the  emergency  unhesi- 
tatingly express  the  opinion  that  the  ideals  of  the  schools  must  be 
modified  if  they  are  to  play  the  important  part  in  this  social  ad- 
vance which  they  should. 

It  is  one  of  the  curious  things  about  our  American  educational 
system  that,  conceived  in  a  spirit  of  socialism  so  far  as  its  or- 
ganization and  administration  is  concerned,  it  has  tended,  never- 
theless, in  its  subject-matter  and  in  its  methods  of  instruction,  to 
emphasize  and  to  promote  extreme  individualism.  Supported  by 
funds  by  assessment  on  all  the  property  of  the  community,  and 
organized  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  possible,  if  not  compulsory, 
the  attendance  of  all  children,  presumably  for  the  common  good 
and  as  a  sure  foundation  for  social  democracy,  the  ideals  of  the 
schools  have  centered  the  interests  of  the  pupils  on  individual  ad- 
vance and  on  the  ultimate  attainment  of  conspicuous  success  in 
the  competitive  social  and  economic  struggle  rather  than  the  de- 
sirability of  giving  the  largest  possible  service  for  the  common 
good. 

Perhaps  in  no  phase  of  recent  scientific  educational  study  has 
the  purely  individualistic  ideal  been  more  clearly  seen  than  in  the 
realm  of  child-study  and  psychology.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to 
state  that  such  activity  has  been  necessarily  undemocratic,  un- 
social, or  inadvisable — quite  the  contrary.  It  can  be  shown  that 
psychology  has  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  the  tremendous 
advance  which  education  has  made  in  the  last  quarter-century 
and  that  it  has  helped  to  bring  into  the  schools  the  very  elements 
which  may  be  most  effectively  used  in  socializing  education.  So 
far  as  it  has  been  worked  over  into  terms  of  educational  method, 
however,  psychology  has  been  distinctively  individualistic.  While 


96  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

social  psychology — group  psychology — is  such  a  recent  develop- 
ment that  its  technique  and  terminology  are  still  in  the  making, 
it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  its  influence  on  public  education  is 
destined  to  be  even  greater  during  the  next  twenty-five  years 
than  the  psychology  of  the  individual  on  which  we  have  thus 
far  relied.  It  will  demonstrate  that  our  citizenship  as  a  whole 
must  be  taught  to  have  less  interest  in  its  rights  and  more  in  its 
duties,  less  thought  for  the  possibility  of  reaching  eminent  po- 
sition for  oneself  and  more  for  the  desirability  of  securing  the 
contentment  and  happiness  of  the  less  fortunate. 

I  believe  that  the  present  movement  for  industrial  education 
has  important  contributions  to  make  to  this  socializing  of  popu- 
lar education  and  it  is  to  this  phase  of  the  movement  that  your 
attention  is  asked. 

It  is  an  oft-repeated  statement,  but  one  which  must  neverthe- 
less be  briefly  discussed  in  connection,  that  many  educators  are 
strongly  opposed  to  the  vocational  motive  in  education. 

In  a  discussion  recently  in  a  leading  educational  journal  is 
found  the  following  statement  of  the  "bread  and  butter"  princi- 
ple as  seen  by  the  classicist : 

In  obedience  to  popular  clamor,  (they)  resolved  to  replace  the  literary 
education,  which  had  held  sway  for  centuries,  by  a  study  of  exact  science. 
They  kept  sternly  in  view  the  demands  of  the  counting-house  and  work- 
shop. We  will  not  train  the  boy's  mind,  said  they;  we  will  pack  the  mind 
with  useful  facts.  He  shall  not  think;  he  shall  remember.  Strictly  cut  off 
from  a  knowledge  of  the  past,  he  shall  live  solely  in  the  present.  Thus 
there  will  be  no  waste-  of  force.  A  full  pocket  shall  reward  his  industry, 
and  if  his  head  is  empty  of  those  general  ideas  which  cumbered  his  father's, 
so  much  the  better  for  him.  He  will  get  rich  the  more  quickly. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  distinction  here  drawn  between  the 
"cultural"  and  the  "bread  and  butter"  aim  of  education,  with  the 
conclusion  that  the  latter  is  wholly  to  be  avoided  as  sordid  and 
mean,  has  a  perfectly  natural  origin,  a  brief  discussion  of  which 
is  pertinent  to  our  subject.  When  these  ideals  were  in  the  mak- 
ing, the  vast  majority  of  students  came  from  those  classes  of 
society  whose  members  were  economically  independent  even  if 
not  actually  wealthy.  The  pursuit  of  knowledge  for  the  sake  of 
increasing  an  assured  income,  already  sufficient,  or  with  hope  of 
improving,  financially,  a  career  sure  to  be  rewarded  by  an  adequate 
living  and  by  social  distinction,  was  very  properly  considered 
sordid  and  unsocial.  To  use  education  merely  as  a  means  of  en- 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  97 

hancing  one's  opportunity  of  gaining  a  larger  measure  of  the 
material  things  of  life,  or  of  controlling  and  exploiting  one's 
fellow-beings,  was  indeed  justly  condemned.  The  result  of  such 
action  could  only  be  to  increase  the  gap  between  the  rich  and 
poor,  the  able  and  the  incompetent,  the  wise  and  the  foolish,  and 
therefore  to  disrupt  society. 

Today,  when  universal  education  is  our  aim,  "bread  and 
butter"  education  for  the  masses  of  mankind  will  have  exactly 
the  opposite  effect,  will  tend  to  bring  the  masses  and  the  classes 
closer  together,  to  secure  unity  in  diversity  by  giving  each  a  more 
genuine  appreciation  of  and  respect  for  the  other.  So  far  from 
being  sordid  and  basely  utilitarian,  it  represents  one  of  the  finest 
ideals  the  human  mind  has  conceived  and  sets  forth  a  philosophy 
of  life  which  can  be  fully  realized  under  no  other  conditions  than 
complete  solidarity. 

Another  important  social  phase  of  the  industrial  education 
movement  is  that  it  is  bound  to  have  a  profound  effect  on  the 
whole  system  of  popular  education.  This  will  be  true  whether 
our  traditional  schools  admit  or  reject  the  new  forms  of  educa- 
tion. The  conditions  of  industry  are  such  that  the  employer  can 
no  longer  afford  to  train  his  apprentices  in  the  old  way  but  must 
instead  evolve  new  methods  to  meet  the  new  conditions.  Train- 
ing must  be  had  and,  if  the  schools  refuse  to  give  it,  the  privately 
controlled  schools  will  draw  large  numbers  of  the  pupils  away 
from  the  public  schools,  thereby  greatly  reducing  the  influence  of 
the  most  potent  socializing  institution  of  our  times.  What  seems 
more  probable,  however,  and  what  is  infinitely  more  desirable,  is 
that  the  more  vital  and  direct  methods  which  are  being  developed 
in  connection  with  industrial  training  will  modify  and  greatly 
improve  the  methods  and  ideals  of  general  education.  Indeed 
there  seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  this  will  be  the  outcome,  since 
vocational  training  is  now  to  be  found  in  almost  every  part  of 
our  school  system.  Great  activity  is  to  be  observed  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools  where  retarded  and  discouraged  children  have 
been  brought  to  see  the  meaning  and  the  need  of  education  by  the 
utilization  of  the  vocational  motive,  and  have  been  led,  by  more 
interesting  and  stimulating  pathways,  to  the  door  of  the  high 
school.  The  high  schools  have  modified  entrance  requirements 
and  have  arranged  and  administered  with  wholeheartedness  less 
extended  courses  for  those  needing  them  and  have  not  only  short- 
ened the  courses  but  have  vitalized  them  as  well  by  relating  them 


98  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

to  possible  future  vocations  of  the  pupils.  Separate  schools  have 
been  established  for  those  who  for  any  reason  cannot  be  cared 
for  in  the  vocationalized  classes  of  the  elementary  and  high 
schools,  and  part-time  and  continuation  schools  and  classes  have 
been  formed  for  those  who  must  work  while  they  study. 

The  present  demand  for  the  enlargement  of  the  function  of 
the  public  school,  thru  the  introduction  of  industrial  education,  is 
but  a  step  in  the  evolution  of  this  popular  institution.  The  ad- 
vance has  always  been  brought  about  thru  the  efforts  of  those 
seeking  social  ends  and  the  betterment  of  the  people,  and,  as 
often,  has  been  opposed  by  conservation.  In  this  onward  move- 
ment it  is  clear  that  we  have  reached  a  crisis  similar  in  principle 
to  others  which  have  periodically  confronted  popular  education 
when  advance  has  become  imperative  and  when  such  progress 
has  been  opposed  by  the  ruling  interest,  whether  wealth,  aristoc- 
racy, or  sectarianism.  Unless  we  are  to  reverse  all  precedents  the 
schools  will  again  widen  their  sympathies  and  will  receive  and 
instruct  a  still  larger  proportion  of  the  country's  children,  thus 
greatly  increasing  their  social  value. 

Another  sociological  phase  of  industrial  education  is  its  rela- 
tion to  criminology.  That  industrial  education  is  to  have  an  im- 
mense influence  in  preventing  juvenile  delinquency  is  the  belief  of 
those  who  have  studied  faithfully  the  lessons  taught  by  the  re- 
form schools  and  penitentiaries.  Certainly  nothing  could  be  of 
greater  social  significance  than  the  reduction  of  crime  and  espec- 
ially crime  for  which  society,  rather  than  the  delinquent,  is  mainly 
responsible.  It  becomes  entirely  clear,  as  one  studies  the  methods 
employed  in  a  modern  reform  school  and  the  records  of  those 
who  have  been  discharged  from  these  institutions,  that  the  same 
kind  of  training  for  the  boy  before  commitment  would,  in  the 
large  majority  of  cases,  effectively  remove  him  from  the  prob- 
ability of  delinquency.  When  taught  the  satisfaction  of  work 
well  done,  when  made  to  see  that  the  way  thru  is  infinitely  better 
than  the  way  around  a  difficult  piece  of  work,  even  tho  it  be 
rough  manual  work;  when  he  has  once  experienced  the  pleasure 
of  actually  carrying  his  own  weight,  economically  considered,  he 
is  far  less  likely  to  proceed  by  the  devious  ways  resorted  to  by 
those  whose  wit  has  been  developed  more  than  their  skill.  That 
"joy  in  work"  is  no  mere  sentimental  phrase  becomes  a  conviction 
on  carefully  observing  large  numbers  of  reform-school  boys  en- 
gaged in  their  somewhat  skilled  occupations. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  99 

It  is  obviously  essential  to  the  stability  of  society  that  intel- 
ligent contentment  prevail  thruout  the  group.  One  of  the  pur- 
poses of  industrial  education  held,  more  or  less  consciously,  by 
its  advocates  relates  directly  to  the  contentment  of  the  masses. 
To  my  mind  it  is  one  of  the  most  subtle  and  far-reaching  aspects 
of  the  movement.  That  social  discontent  exists  no  thoughtful 
observer  will  doubt,  whether  he  can  assign  the  cause  or  not.  It 
has  been  claimed  that  the  schools  are  partly  to  blame  because  of 
the  false  ideals  of  pleasure  which  they  have  engendered.  These 
ideals  we  are  told  give  undue  emphasis  to  the  joys  of  consump- 
tion, the  spending  of  money,  and  passive  entertainment,  and 
ignore  almost  entirely  the  finer  pleasures  to  be  derived  thru  crea- 
tive work  or  even  the  sterner  joy  of  productive  labor. 

Our  courses  of  study  seem  to  be  so  devised  that  they  develop 
the  child  to  the  point  where  he  can  enjoy,  intellectually  and  aesthe- 
tically, many  of  the  things  which  cultivated  people  prize,  beautiful 
surroundings  in  the  home,  music,  art,  poetry,  the  drama,  and 
travel.  This  is  well,  but  where  such  tastes  are  developed  with- 
out equal  attention  being  given  to  the  development  of  ability  to 
secure  the  means  whereby  the  desires  may  be  satisfied  there  is 
brought  about  an  unbalanced  condition  which  frequently  leads  to 
the  conclusion  that  money  is  the  one  thing  needed  to  secure 
happiness.  The  joy  of  consumption,  rather  than  the  joy  of  pro- 
duction, is  the  end  which  they  seek  in  common,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted with  American  society  in  general.  It  is  believed  that  a 
rational  plan  of  education  which  lays  especial  emphasis  on  the 
constructive  activities  will  enable  many  to  know  the  pleasure 
which  comes  from  such  work  and  to  turn  to  that  for  some  if  not 
a  large  part  of  their  recreative  entertainment,  as  well  as  to  have 
a  clearer  appreciation  of  the  substantial  satisfaction  which  their 
daily  work  may  yield. 

Finally,  industrial  education  is  sociologically  significant  for 
what  it  is  making  possible  in  the  way  of  collective  control,  that  is 
control  by  the  community,  of  the  conditions  of  child  labor.  It  is 
a  matter  of  social  concern  that  children  are  now  being  warped, 
degraded,  killed,  mentally,  morally,  and  physically,  by  their  early 
industrial  experiences.  It  is  of  immense  moment  to  the  common 
welfare  that  these  experiences  are  often  wholly  discouraging  to 
the  young  workers,  thereby  creating  or  strengthening  the  belief 
that  work  is  a  curse,  a  thing  to  be  avoided  as  far  as  may  be,  and 
that  the  prizes  of  life  are  reserved  for  those  who  exploit  rather 


ioo    .  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

than  for  those  who  serve.  Industrial  education  is  so  successful 
in  drawing  attention  to  this  matter  that  where  such  education  is 
an  established  fact  it  is  much  easier  to  secure  the  extension  of 
child-labor  laws,  the  inauguration  of  systems  of  vocational  guid- 
ance, the  co-ordination  of  apprenticeship  laws  with  those  relating 
to  education  and  child-labor,  and  the  establishment  of  minimum- 
wage  commissions  to  fix  and  maintain  suitable  rates  of  compensa- 
tion for  children  and  minors.  All  these  are  of  distinct  social  sig- 
nificance and  the  accomplishment  of  them  will  be  impossible  with- 
out a  system  of  industrial  education.  In  fact  a  thorogoing  system 
of  industrial  education  leads  inevitably  to  vocational  guidance, 
child-labor  and  apprenticeship  laws,  and  public  wage  boards,  and 
will  serve  to  bind  them  together  into  a  single  function. 

In  the  great  problem  which  confronts  civilization  today,  the 
working  out  of  right  relations  between  man  and  man,  the  "masses" 
will  be  the  first  to  accept  the  conditions  of  advance  and  to  work 
and  sacrifice  for  it. 

I  repeat  that,  so  far  from  being  a  narrow  utilarian  movement, 
I  believe  that  industrial  education  allies  itself  with  the  broadest 
and  I  may  say  the  most  spiritual  movement  of  the  century,  the 
promotion  of  genuine  brother-hood.  Brotherhood  is  possible  only 
where  there  is  frankly  accepted  the  ideal  of  unity  in  diversity. 

Unity  in  diversity ;  this  is  also  the  keynote  of  industrial  educa- 
tion. Its  promoters  are  learning  to  treat  with  equal  respect  and  to 
strive  equally  hard  to  administer  to  the  needs  of  the  future  fac- 
tory worker,  the  future  accountant,  the  future  electrician,  or  the 
future  engineer.  And  if  education  learns  to  dignify  all  vocational 
life  by  giving  it  consideration  in  its  various  forms  and  relations, 
who  shall  say  that  this  will  not  have  a  profound  influence  in  help- 
ing us  as  a  nation  to  develop  a  unity  of  purpose  out  of  the  won- 
derful diversity  of  conditions  and  opportunities  which  our  coun- 
try affords  and  of  which  we  are  justly  proud  and  which  in  a  so- 
cial democracy  should  somehow  be  made  to  minister  to  the  com- 
mon good? 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  101 

INDUSTRIAL  HYGIENE  AND  VOCA- 
TIONAL EDUCATION1 

I.     The  Anomaly 

To  those  who  have  studied  the  pressing  problems  of  working 
people  a  serious  anomaly  appears  in  American  industrial  educa- 
tion. The  movement  for  industrial  education  has  been  a  most 
desirable  effort  to  help  the  great  masses  of  our  people  solve  suc- 
cessfully thru  public  education  one  of  the  most  serious  problems 
of  life — that  of  making  a  living.  A  rough  analysis  of  this  prob- 
lem has  associated  vocational  preparation  with  forges  and  lathes, 
special  schools,  and  costly  apparatus.  Educators  have  clamored 
long  and  loudly  for  appropriations  with  which  to  begin  this  work. 
They  have  said,  "We  can  do  nothing  until  we  get  the  money  with 
which  to  purchase  this  equipment."  And  they  have  done  nothing 
without  it. 

Now  a  more  thoro  survey  of  the  prime  needs  of  the  world's 
workers  will  reveal  two  very  essential  and  fundamental  factors  of 
vocational  education  which  most  industrial  courses  and  schools 
very  largely  overlook,  and  which  are,  moreover,  comparatively 
inexpensive.  These  are,  first,  the  development  of  general  indus- 
trial intelligence,  including  acquaintanceship  with  the  complex 
industrial  world  of  the  present,  and  secondly,  thorogoing  educa- 
tion in  general,  industrial,  and  occupational  hygiene.  While  they 
are  waiting  for  appropriations,  school  systems  could  be  giving, 
without  very  great  outlays  of  money,  fundamental  instruction 
with  regard  to  our  complex  industrial  life  and  this  invaluable 
health  education,  largely  by  the  use  of  the  schoolmaster's  favorite 
instrument,  the  book — a  simple,  inexpensive  tool. 

Let  us  glance  at  just  one  of  these  primary  propositions — that 
in  reference  to  health  education  for  workers  as  primary  vocational 
education.  What  is  the  health  problem  of  our  working  people? 
From  extensive  studies  of  mortality  statistics  and  the  data  of 
private  and  public  insurance  agencies  here  and  abroad,  as  well  as 
from  many  special  studies,  we  learn,  with  respect  to  the  illness 

1  By  Louis  W.  Rapeer.  National  Education  Association.  Proceedings. 
1914:668-72. 


102  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

problem,  that  there  are  in  this  country  no  fewer  than  thirteen 
million  cases  of  sickness  each  year  among  those  engaged  in  indus- 
trial pursuits.  The  effects  of  such  illness  are  well  known.  Illness 
reduces  bodily  efficiency,  causes  loss  of  work  and  of  wages,  and 
frequently  ends  in  death.  Webb,  Devine,  and  other  social  stu- 
dents and  workers  are  agreed  that  to  the  sickness  of  workers  is 
directly  due  over  25  per  cent  of  all  poverty  and  destitution. 

Rubinow,  in  his  Social  Insurance,  reports  that  in  Austria, 
where  the  government  insures  workers  against  illness  and  where 
accurate  records  are  kept  of  the  illness  problem  of  workers,  with 
nearly  three  million  workers  insured  in  1907,  there  occurred 
1,623,000  cases  of  sickness,  causing  a  loss  of  28,000,000  days;  53 
per  cent  of  the  entire  working  army  suffered  such  a  loss,  and  the 
average  time  lost  was  seventeen  days  each.  How  much  of  low 
vital  working  efficiency  there  resulted  could  not  well  be  measured. 

In  Germany,  with  over  thirteen  million  insured  against  sick- 
ness, there  were  5,200,000  cases  of  illness  in  1908,  and  the  number 
of  days  lost  was  104,000,000,  an  average  of  eight  days  for  each 
of  the  thirteen  millions  insured.  Of  coure,  there  are  only  partial 
costs  since  the  public  taxation  for  public  hospitals  and  other  such 
health  agencies  is  not  here  included,  and  still  other  costs  are 
omitted.  Since  we  have  as  yet  in  this  country  no  such  systems  of 
social  insurance,  we  do  not  have  accurate  statistics  of  the  health 
problem  of  our  own  workers.  But  these  illness  losses  may,  from 
several  sources,  be  computed  as  an  average  of  over  two  weeks  of 
work  and  from  5  to  15  per  cent  of  the  worker's  annual  wages, 
including  medical,  burial,  and  other  expenses  both  private  and 
public.  When  we  study  the  annual  wages  of  our  workers,  a  large 
proportion  of  them  now  being  industrial  wage-earners  of  the  fac- 
tory type,  and  find  that  the  median  annual  wage  is  not  far  from 
$650  to  $700,  and  that  this  sum  is  hardly  up  to,  and  certainly  not 
above,  the  minimum  amount  necessary  for  a  family  with  which 
to  maintain  a  minimum  standard  of  living — when  we  see  our 
industrial  population  working  so  close  to  this  minimum,  then  we 
realize  what  direct  and  indirect  loss  of  even  one-twentieth  of  the 
annual  wages  for  sickness  really  means,  especially  when  we  learn 
that  50  per  cent  of  it  is  reasonably  preventable.  These  data,  of 
course,  hardly  show  up  the  actual  death  and  lowered  vital  effi- 
ciency problems  of  workers.  Our  working  population  cannot 
afford  such  losses !  Over  one-fifth  of  the  children  brought  into 
the  world  each  year,  at  such  cost,  die  in  the  first  year,  and  half 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  103 

of  all  born  into  the  homes  of  our  workers  die  before  the  age  of 
twenty-three.  Over  1,600,000  of  our  total  population  die  each 
year,  100,000  of  them  of  school  age.  This  is  an  annual  loss  of 
about  2  per  cent  of  our  total  population,  and  in  a  modern  enlight- 
ened civilization,  is  about  double  what  it  should  be.  The  most 
fundamental  form  of  general  and  vocational  training  is  that 
which  would  enable  the  working  population  to  meet  more  effec- 
tively these  deaths,  illness,  and  lowered  vital  efficiency  losses. 

Moreover,  the  young  men  and  women,  the  boys  and  girls  of 
our  schools,  very  much  need  this  type  of  vocational  education  be- 
cause they  themselves  are  seriously  defective  and  ailing.  Dr. 
Chisholm's  studies  of  the  girls  preparing  for  work  in  Manchester, 
England;  the  great  amount  of  data  collected  in  our  medical 
supervision  of  schools;  and  the  statistics  of  examinations  for 
army  recruits  and  for  those  entering  industry  aboard — all  show 
the  extreme  importance  of  complete  and  thorogoing  systems  of 
educational  hygiene  for  our  working  population. 

We  do  not  need,  I  think,  to  demontrate  by  the  statistical 
studies  that  have  been  made  that  the  general,  the  industrial,  and 
the  occupational  hygiene  phases  of  vocational  education  are  woe- 
fully neglected  in  the  schools  of  this  country.  Our  teachers  do 
not  know  the  elements  of  general,  personal,  and  public  hygiene, 
not  to  mention  industrial  and  occupational  hygiene.  We  have  few 
gobd  textbooks  on  hygiene  in  use,  and  little  or  no  time  and  at- 
tention is  given  to  the  subject  as  a  school  study.  An  extensive 
study  of  actual  courses  in  vocational  education  shows  that,  with 
but  practically  one  exception,  the  only  progressive  work  of  this 
type  is  being  done  abroad.  Our  vocational  courses,  like  our  gen- 
eral elementary  and  high  school  courses,  almost  entirely  overlook 
this  form  of  vocational  preparation. 

The  anomaly  then,  in  summary,  is  about  as  follows :  Hygienic 
education  an  indispensable  phase  of  vocational  education,  and  yet 
an  almost  total  lack  or  great  inefficiency  of  health  education,  both 
general  and  vocational;  millions  of  workers  suffering  high  ill- 
ness, death,  and  lowered  vitality  losses,  and  yet  educators  clamor- 
ing for  the  costly  tools  for  a  narrow  type  of  vocational  training 
while  at  the  same  time  neglecting  the  preparation  so  near,  so 
fundamental,  and  so  comparatively  inexpensive. 


104  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

2.     What  Is  Being  Done 

The  best  evidences  I  have  been  able  to  find  of  adequate  atten- 
tion to  this  important  matter  have  been  in  Munich,  Germany, 
some  schools  of  England,  the  schools  of  Sweden,  and  the  Man- 
hattan Trade  School  for  Girls  (not  true  of  the  one  for  boys  as 
yet)  in  New  York  City.  Dr.  Kerchensteiner  at  Munich  not  only 
has  medical  examinations  and  follow-up  work  and  attention  to 
sanitation  and  physical  education,  but  he  has  a  regular  course 
intended  to  give  intelligence  with  respect  to  the  complex  indus- 
trial and  civic  world  of  today,  and  the  elements  of  general,  indus- 
trial and  occupational  hygiene.  His  course  is  called  "Civics  and 
Hygiene."  Sweden  has  all  these  features  but  adds  to  them  a  most 
progressive  feature  in  the  form  of  health  vocational  guidance  and 
follow-up  work,  including  annual  medical  examinations  by  gov- 
ernment medical  examiners,  until  the  youth  reaches  the  age  of 
eighteen.  A  young  man  may  be  changed  from  occupation  to  oc- 
cupation; he  may  be  given  shorter  hours  and  guidance  as  to  his 
health  regimen;  and  may  even  be  kept  out  of  work  altogether 
until  he  is  physically  fit.  In  England,  medical  supervision  and 
follow-up  work  with  some  health  vocational  guidance  is  rapidly 
making  its  way.  In  these  countries  the  insurance  of  workers 
against  sickness  by  the  state  makes  the  problem  of  health  prepara- 
tion perhaps  not  such  an  acute  one  as  here,  yet  these  countries 
are  leading  the  way  in  school  health  work. 

The  Manhattan  Trade  School  for  Girls  gives  each  girl  careful 
physical  examinations,  annually  or  more  often,  and  supplements 
these  with  thoro  follow-up  work;  the  home  and  school  environ- 
ments are  made  as  sanitary  as  possible ;  medical,  corrective,  and 
recreational  gymnastics,  including  plays  and  games,  are  much 
used,  meeting  individual  and  community  needs;  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  practical  teaching  of  general  personal  and  public  hygiene, 
and  of  the  most  usable  phases  of  industrial  hygiene,  developing 
later  into  specific  occupational  hygiene  for  those  going  into  def- 
inite trades;  and  last,  but  quite  important,  is  careful  guidance 
before,  and  follow-up  work  along  sanitary  and  personal  lines 
after,  the  girls  have  gone  into  industry.  Further  than  these  few 
examples,  we  can  point  to  little  that  is  worth  while. 

The  recent  success  of  the  Life  Extension  Institute  in  getting 
employers  of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  working  people  to  fur- 
nish each  one  free  of  charge  with  an  annual,  very  thorogoing  med- 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  105 

ical  examination  and  the  remarkable  revelation  of  the  low  health 
status  of  most  of  these  industrial  workers  show  what  industry 
is  beginning  to  think  of  thoro  health  education  from  the  earliest 
years  on.  It,  moreover,  indicates  that  we  are  here  on  the  right 
track. 

3.     What  Mu-st  Be  Done 

We  have  seen  the  anomaly  and  what  is  being  done  in  a  few 
places,  mostly  abroad,  to  eliminate  it.  Let  us  see  what  in  this 
country  must  be  done  along  this  line.  Briefly,  we  must  have : 

1.  Thorogoing    medical    supervision    of    all  school  children,  and  those 
before  and  after  the  school  years  so  far  as  possible,  especially-  annual,   or 
more  frequent,  examinations  and  follow-up  work   of  a  corrective  and  pre- 
ventive character. 

2.  An   improved  sanitary  environment   at   home,     at    school,     and    at 
work. 

3.  Adequate    individual    and    collective    physical    education,    including 
medical  and  corrective  gymnastics,  plays,  games,  recreation,  etc. 

4.  Improved  teaching  of  hygiene,  general,  personal,  and  public,  general 
industrial  and  occupation  hygiene,  each  person  getting  as  much  of  each  as 
is  reasonably  possible. 

Careful  health-vocational  guidance  up  to  the  age  of  eighteen  or  twenty 
if  possible. 

Elementary  and  high  school  must  pay  more  attention  to  these 
phases  of  health  and  education,  employing  teachers  who  have  im- 
proved health  training  and  textbooks  superior  to  those  in  vogue, 
along  the  line  perhaps  of  the  Gulick  and  of  the  Ritchie  series. 
In  the  year  or  so  before  pupils  go  out  into  industry,  they  must 
have  added  some  general  industrial  hygiene  such  as  is  desirable 
for  all  workers;  and,  third,  if  possible,  they  must  have  some 
knowledge  of  the  special  hygienic  precautions  necessary  in  the 
special  occupation  the  pupils  are  sure  to  take  up — occupational 
hygiene.  Those  going  into  teaching,  for  example,  must,  in  their 
professional  training  know  the  hygiene  of  their  occupation ;  those 
going  into  the  lead  industries  must  know  how  to  meet  the  lead- 
poisoning  problem,  and  so  on. 

Fortunately,  some  good  texts  are  being  published  which  will 
aid  in  the  teaching  side  of  the  problem,  including  general,  per- 
sonal, and  public  hygiene  and  general  industrial  hygiene.  I  take 
time  to  mention  one  entitled  "Hygiene  for  the  worker,"  by  Tol- 
man,  a  textbook  on  personal,  public,  and  industrial  hygiene  which 


io6  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

hooks  on  to  the  keen  interest  of  children  who  go  out  into  indus- 
try, and  which  sets  them  at  work  in  direct  industrial  preparation 
in  the  ways  of  health  knowledge,  health  ideals,  and  health  habits 
of  value  to  them  as  workers. 

Another  new  and  high-class  text  for  upper  grades  and  high 
schools,  but  more  general  in  its  appeal  and  in  its  subject-matter, 
yet  of  very  great  importance,  is  Coleman's  "The  People's  Health." 
This  volume  will  be  a  good  introduction  to  special  industrial  hy- 
giene for  those  who  go  on  into  or  thru  high  schools  and  trade 
schools  of  secondary  grade. 

Here,  then,  we  have  a  tentative  program  for  helping  vocational 
education  to  enlarge  its  service  slightly  beyond  the  giving  of 
mere  trade  skill  in  order  to  help  the  country  meet  in  a  healthy, 
vigorous  manner  these  serious  problems  of  life,  and  to  attain 
genuine  social  efficiency  so  long  set  by  the  president  of  this  sec- 
tion as  the  aim  of  education.  It  may  seem  somewhat  progressive, 
but  it  is  not  in  any  sense  ultra.  As  Seager  says  in  his  "Social 
Insurance" :  "In  the  United  States  we  are  still  so  far  from  con- 
sidering illness  as  anything  beyond  a  private  misfortune  against 
which  each  individual  and  each  family  should  protect  itself,  as 
best  it  may,  that  Germany's  heroic  method  of  attacking  it  as  a 
national  evil  thru  governmental  machinery  seems  to  us  to  belong 
to  another  planet."  But  this  feeling  will  soon  pass,  since  the  gov- 
ernmental machinery  we  should  chiefly  use  in  this  democratic 
country  is  the  machinery  of  our  public  schools,  especially  of  our 
industrial  courses  and  schools. 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  ABROAD1 
Industrial  Schools  in  Germany 

To  meet  the  demand  for  industrial  education,  all  the  prin- 
cipal states  of  Europe  have  maintained  training  of  this  sort  for 
at  least  half  a  century,  and  the  United  States  has  during  the 
past  decade  been  making  rapid  strides  in  the  same  direction. 
The  especial  plans  of  organization  and  instruction  that  have 
been  evolved  in  each  case  seem  to  depend  upon  the  temperament 

1From  "History  of  Education  in  Modern  Times,"  p.  357-61.  By  Frank 
Pierrepont  Graves,  Copyright  1913,  by  the  Macmillan  Company. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  10? 

of  the  people  and  upon  the  institutions  and  industrial  conditions 
of  the  country  or  the  locality  concerned.  In  Germany,  where 
this  training  has  had  the  longest  history  and  is  probably  the 
most  effective,  the  work  has  been  carried  on  through  the  Fort- 
bildungsschulen  ("continuation  schools").  Institutions  of  this 
sort  were  first  established  by  Wurtemberg  in  1695,  to  supple- 
ment the  meager  elementary  education,  and  by  the  earliest 
yyears  of  the  nineteenth  century  a  number  of  other  Ger- 
man states  had  introduced  them.  The  "industrial  law"  of  the 
North  German  Confederation  in  1869  permitted  the  localities  to 
make  attendance  at  the  continuation  schools  compulsory  for  all 
apprentices  up  to  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  required  employers 
to  allow  them  to  attend.  And  after  the  Franco-Prussian  war, 
when  a  desire  to  enter  into  industrial  competition  with  the 
world  arose,  most  of  the  other  states  and  localities  followed  the 
example,  and  this  legislation  eventually  became  the  basis  for  an 
imperial  law  (1891,  1900).  The  course  in  the  continuation 
schools  at  first  consisted  largely  of  review  work,  but  the  rapid 
spread  of  elementary  schools  soon  enabled  them  to  devote  all 
their  time  to  technical  education.  Through  the  establishment 
of  a  large  number  of  schools  of  various  sorts,  training  is 
afforded  not  only  for  the  rank  and  file  of  workmen  in  the  differ- 
ent trades,  but  for  ;he  higher  grades  of  workers,  such  as  fore- 
men, superintende  ts,  and  technical  office  clerks.  Similarly, 
girls  are  trained  in  a  wide  variety  of  vocations,  and  in  house- 
keeping and  motherhood.  Many  of  these  schools,  especially  in 
the  South  German  states,  have  added  laboratories  and  work- 
shops, and  the  training  has  proved  so  valuable  that  many  of  the 
pupils  return  voluntarily  after  the  period  of  compulsory  attend- 
ance. 

During  the  last  twenty-five  years  there  have  also  been  de- 
veloped continuation  schools  for  general  education,  rather  than 
for  special  industrial  education,  known  as  Gewerbeschulen 
("trade  schools")  or  Handwerkschulen  ("artisan  schools"). 
These  institutions  furnish  theoretical  courses  in  chemistry,  phys- 
ics, mathematics,  book-keeping,  drawing,  geography,  nature  study, 
history,  and  law.  In  South  Germany  there  is  a  tendency  to 
combine  theoretical  and  practical  work,  and  to  develop  schools 
adapted  to  the  particular  industries  of  the  various  localities,  but 
North  German  states  generally  confine  the  courses  to  theoretical 
training,  and  leave  the  practical  side  to  the  care  of  the  em- 


io8  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

ployers  or  associations.  The  system  of  industrial  education  in 
Munich,  organized  by  Dr.  Kerschensteiner,  has  been  es- 
pecially developed  and  has  attracted  much  attention.  It  in- 
cludes an  extra  class  in  the  elementary  schools  with  the  chief 
stress  upon  manual  work,  to  bridge  the  gap  between  school  life 
and  employment  and  serve  as  a  preparation  for  the  industrial 
classes  of  the  continuation  schools.  The  instructors  for  the  in- 
dustrial schools  of  Germany  are  supplied  through  special  train- 
ing schools,  either  by  giving  elementary  teachers  short  industrial 
courses  and  making  them  acquainted  with  the  working  of  the 
factory,  or  by  taking  master  workmen  from  the  factory,  and 
giving  them  short  courses  in  methods  of  teaching. 

Industrial  Education  in  France 

In  Germany  these  industrial  continuation  schools  are  not  in- 
tended to  be  a  substitute  for  apprenticeship,  but  furnish  par- 
allel instruction  throughout  this  period.  Switzerland  and  Au- 
stralia also  use  both  these  features  in  industrial  training,  but  the 
one  especially  emphasizes  the  apprenticeship  and  the  other  the 
continuation  school.  Because  of  unsatisfactory  conditions  in 
apprenticeship,  France  even  goes  so  far  as  to  attempt  to  elim- 
inate it  altogether.  More  than  any  other  ountry  in  Europe, 
it  has  made  efforts  to  furnish  the  entire  industrial  training 
through  continuation  schools  articulating  with  the  elementary 
system.  The  pupils  are  admitted  at  thirteen,  and  obtain  practice 
in  the  school  workshops  for  three  years.  Iron-work  is  taught 
to  all  the  boys,  but  the  other  courses  vary  with  local  needs. 
Girls  learn  to  make  dresses,  corsets,  millinery,  artificial  flowers, 
and  other  industrial  products.  A  number  of  these  continuation 
schools  have  added  normal  departments,  and  there  is  a  normal 
school  for  industrial  training  at  Paris.  There  are  also  through- 
out the  country  a  number  of  national  schools  of  arts  and  trades 
that  are  based  upon  the  same  principles  as  these  lower  industrial 
schools,  and  furnish  a  training  for  foremen,  superintendents, 
and  managers.  There  are  also  many  evening  classes  for  in- 
dustrial training  under  voluntary  auspices,  but  as  a  whole  con- 
tinuation education  has  not  been  nearly  as  well  developed  in 
France  as  in  Germany. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  109 

Types  of  English  Industrial  Education 

In  England,  despite  the  rapid  industrial  development,  little 
attempt  was  made  before  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century 
to  improve  the  vocational  skill  of  workmen.  In  1851  grants 
were  made  to  evening  industrial  schools  and  classes,  and  two 
years  later  a  Department  of  Art  and  Science  was  established,  to 
encourage  instruction  in  drawing  and  science,  and  administer 
the  grants.  Schools  of  science  were  organized  in  1872,  and 
shared  in  the  departmental  grants.  These  institutions  had  at 
first  both  day  and  evening  sessions,  but  after  a  generation  be- 
came in  many  cases  regular  secondary  day  schools.  There  also 
arose  many  private  organizations,  held  mainly  in  the  evening, 
to  teach  "such  branches  of  science  and  fine  arts  as  benefit  com- 
merce and  industries."  Among  these  was  the  City  and  Guilds 
of  London  Institute,  which  registers,  inspects,  and  examines 
classes  in  technology  and  manual  training.  At  present  England 
has  three  types  of  industrial  education,  each  based  upon  the 
work  of  elementary  schools.  These  embrace  the  higher  elemen- 
tary schools,  which  afford  a  four-year  course  in  practical  and 
theoretical  science  arranged  according  to  local  needs;  the  day 
trade  schools,  furnishing  a  substitute  for  apprenticeship,  which 
is  now  becoming  obsolete ;  and  the  evening  continuation  schools 
for  children  who  have  left  the  elementary  schools  at  fourteen 
without  completing-  the  higher  grades.  Thus,  while  industrial 
education  is  still  in  the  experimental  stage,  England  has  come 
to  recognize  that  the  country  cannot  successfully  enter  the  world 
competition  without  it. 


TRADE  SCHOOLS 

NEW  REQUIREMENTS  MADE  BY  THE 
TRADE  SCHOOLS1 

The  modern  courses  for  preparing  boys  and  girls  for  wage 
earning  are  instances  of  fundamental  changes  which  are  taking 
place  in  education.  Twenty  years  ago  handwork  in  the  schools 
was  little  appreciated.  Even  those  who  urged  its  value  were 
often  foremost  in  disclaiming  its  industrial  signification.  Today 
a  new  era  has  dawned  and  we  freely  discuss  industrial  subjects 
and  their  interrelation  with  long  established  courses,  as  factors 
in  trade  education.  A  few  well  established  schools  have  clearly 
shown  us  that  the  methods  of  the  business  world  and  not  the 
ideals  of  some  student  in  his  cloistered  study  must  govern  the 
trade  school  curriculum.  In  such  schools  are  found  a  close 
connection  with  the  working  world,  direct  business  organization 
of  shops,  interest  in  problems  of  labor  and  willingness  to  change 
courses  of  study  in  response  to  the  demand  from  outside  work- 
rooms. The  students  in  these  schools  are  busy  and  intent  at 
their  tasks  and  show  happiness  and  ability  in  work.  My  word 
today  is  from  experience  with  the  training  of  girls. 

In  these  real  trade  schools  we  can  no  longer  cling  to  ideals 
of  what  we  feel  a  young  girl  worker's  education  should  be.  We 
must  face  what  it  can  be.  Let  us  think  for  a  moment  of  the 
situation  of  working  girls  in  a  busy,  industrial  city.  They  must 
work  for  self-support.  They  must  do  it  immediately.  They 
should  have  a  decent  wage.  They  should  have  good  health  and 
ideals  of  life  that  they  may  be  successful,  womanly  citizens  as 
well  as  able  wage  earners.  What  new  demands  do  these  specific 
requirements  place  before  the  schools? 

First:  They  must  work.  It  is  not  a  time  for  us  to  stand 
aside  and  say  women  should  remain  at  home,  even  if  that  is  an 

1  By  Marr  Schenck  Woolman,  Director  of  Domestic  Arts  Department, 
Teachers  College,  New  York  City.  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Industrial  Education,  Proceedings,  4th  annual  meeting.  1910. 


112  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

ideal  to  be  held  before  us,  for  the  economic  condition  of  num- 
bers of  families  in  our  large  industrial  centers  is  such  that  the 
daughters  cannot  remain  at  home,  and  we  therefore  find  six 
million  women  in  the  United  States  occupied  with  some  remu- 
nerative occupation.  The  educator  must  not  lead  them  away 
from  this  sore  need  but  must  find  out  at  what  task  it  is  best 
for  them  to  work.  At  the  same  time  he  must  consider  at  what 
task  they  are  willing  to  work.  Every  town  and  industrial  city 
has  its  own  problem  as  its  occupations  differ  in  kind  and  or- 
ganization. The  trade  school  which  wishes  to  help  its  commun- 
ity must  work  in  a  live  field  of  endeavor  and  find  out  what  the 
women  are  doing  in  the  community  and  how  the  employers  wish 
the  work  to  be  done.  The  co-operation  of  the  working  people 
themselves  is  required  to  know  their  interests  and  proclivities. 
Employers  must  give  their  practical  suggestions  and  judgments 
and  the  trade  union  is  needed  for  guidance  in  many  directions 
that  the  school  may  not  interfere  with  the  best  interests  of  the 
working  world.  The  study  of  trade  conditions  for  girls  in  al- 
ready established  trade  schools  has  brought  numerous  occupa- 
tions to  the  front  for  them,  and  will  further  bring  other  trades 
which  skilled  workers  in  Europe  have  long  pursued.  There  are 
many  opportunities  for  women  in  important  occupations  which 
require  skill.  Often  these  trades  are  the  old  home  work  taken 
from  the  home  and  made  commercial  and  the  student  can  utilize 
her  training  both  at  home  and  in  business.  Trade  schools  have 
opened  up  new  possibilities  for  women's  employment,  but  at 
the  same  time  they  have  made  new  requirements  for  teachers. 
The  old  teachers  of  handwork  are  in  general  incapable  of  the 
task.  The  normally  or  even  professionally  trained  teacher  can- 
not cope  with  the  probleim.  Specific  knowledge  is  needed  in  each 
division  of  a  trade.  Even  a  very  capable  Domestic  Art  teacher, 
however  successful  in  elementary  or  high  school,  is  not  the  one 
to  prepare  students  to  work  in  dressmaking  or  millinery  shops 
in  the  large  cities  unless  she  has  herself  worked  long  enough 
in  trade  to  thoroughly  understand  workroom  requirements.  On 
the  other  hand  the  ordinary  trade  worker  is  so  highly  specialized 
that  she  makes  a  poor  teacher,  though  she  may  command  a  high 
market  price  as  a  worker.  She  can  drive  a  workroom,  but  she 
cannot  teach  it.  Both  classes  of  instructors  need  special  train- 
ing to  fit  them  for  trade  school  teaching. 

Women's  industries  in  general  centre  about  the  skilled  use 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  113 

of  a  few  tools.  The  trades  utilizing  one  tool  branch  out  like  a 
tree  from  its  trunk  into  innumerable  limbs,  branches  and  twigs, 
each  division  being  a  separate  trade  in  itself  in  large  institu- 
tional cities.  The  most  skilled  occupations  require  the  use  of 
the  sewing  machine,  foot  and  electric  power;  the  paint  brush; 
paste  brush;  and  the  needle.  Some  training  for  skill  in  the  last 
tool  mentioned  will  affect  more  than  200,000  women  workers  in 
New  York  City  alone.  The  point  I  wish  to  make  here  has  two 
aspects,  first,  these  numerous  trades  centering  about  each  tool 
are  not  always  evident  unless  one  carefully  investigates  wo- 
man's work  in  factory  and  workroom.  Second,  the  great 
variety  of  these  trades  bring  teaching  difficulties  of  no  mean 
order  such  as  (i)  the  only  instructor  who  can  train  children  for 
the  workroom  is  the  one  who  has  had  personal  experience  in  an 
occupation,  (2)  trade  workers  seldom  know  more  than  the  one 
small  division  of  industry,  (3)  a  school  cannot  afford  to  have 
too  many  teachers,  and  (4)  the  teacher  who  attempts  to  grasp 
many  of  these  trades  fails  in  details  of  workroom  practice  in 
training  the  pupils  under  her.  The  thoughtful  direction  of  trade 
instruction  must  face  these  varied  conditions  and  find  some  solu- 
tion. 

Schemes  of  workshops  and  the  taking  of  order  work  have  be- 
come necessary  features  of  the  Manhattan  and  Boston  Trade 
Schools.  Experience  has  proved  this  plan  to  be  a  wise  one,  for 
(i)  the  students  work  on  classes  of  material  used  in  the  best 
workrooms.  (2)  The  ordinary  conditions  in  both  the  wholesale 
and  the  custom  trade  are  thus  made  a  fundamental  part  of  the 
instruction.  (3)  Through  the  business  relation  the  students 
quickly  feel  the  necessity  of  good  finish,  rapid  work  and  responsi- 
bility to  deliver  on  time.  (4)  The  businesslike  appearance  of 
the  shops  increases  the  confidence  of  employers  of  labor  in  the 
ability  of  the  school  to  train  practical  workers  for  the  trades. 
(5)  The  business  organization  and  management  required  in  the 
adequate  conduct  of  a  large  order  department  can  itself  be 
utilized  for  educational  purposes  and  has  its  value  for  training 
students  who  show  promise  of  becoming  good  stock  clerks.  This 
vital  part  of  trade  school  instruction  brings  its  own  problems 
and  requirements,  and  the  trade  school  director  must  understand 
market  conditions  and  prices,  for  there  must  be  no  underbidding 
of  the  market  and  the  school  must  not  be  utilized  during  a  strike 
to  turn  out  goods.  The  conduct  of  the  necessary  business  in  pur- 


114  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

chase  of  material  and  sale  of  manufactured  articles  is  new  in 
school  work. 

They  must  work  as  soon  as  possible',  as  they  are  financially 
unable  to  wait.  This  fact  has  already  brought  about  many  new 
adjustments  in  education,  for,  as  the  compulsory  school  year  is 
fourteen  the  greater  number  of  girls  at  that  time  have  not  com- 
pleted their  elementary  education,  and  therefore  go  to  work 
handicapped.  In  some  of  our  more  progressive  cities  the  ele- 
mentary school  has  felt  it  must  adjust  its  last  three  grades  and 
keep  the  girls  until  graduation  by  giving  vocational  instruction, 
hence  plans  have  resulted  in  a  combination  of  industrial  hand- 
work and  specially  adapted  academic  work  for  those  who  wish 
it.  These  plans  are  revolutionizing  the  old  curriculum  and  are 
placing  in  the  elementary  school  practical  and  cultural  courses 
of  a  type  which  appeal  to  working  people  and  their  children. 
The  immediate  need  for  quick  preparation  for  wage  earning  has 
tended  to  throw  out  of  the  course  all  unnecessary  studies  and  to 
keep  before  the  educator  the  use  of  the  most  important  details 
only.  Munich,  Germany,  has  perhaps  at  the  present  time  the  best 
established  work  of  this  kind,  having  begun  several  years  ago  by 
special  adaptation  of  work  in  the  eighth  grade.  Dr.  Kerschen- 
steiner,  who  inaugurated  this  work,  is  with  us  at  the  present 
time  and  wre  shall  hear  what  he  has  to  say  of  their  solution  of 
the  problem. 

They  must  quickly  earn  a  living  and  not  be  subjected  to  the 
temptation  of  a  salary  on  which  they  cannot  live,  or  the  dis- 
couraging wandering  about  from  one  poor  position  to  another, 
none  of  which  prepares  for  the  next.  Constant  investigation 
therefore  becomes  a  new  requirement  of  the  trade  school.  It  is 
needed  in  trades  in  order  to  discover  new  developments  and 
methods  of  work,  in  knowing  the  slack  seasons  of  trades,  and 
5iow  one  occupation  can  fit  in  to  another  so  that  a  girl  may  be 
trained  for  both ;  in  working  girls'  pleasures  such  as  dance  halls, 
shows  and  clubs;  in  a  knowledge  of  their  homes  and  boarding 
houses ;  in  their  hours  of  work ;  in  their  employers'  responsibility 
for  under  pay,  and  to  follow  them  up  after  they  are  in  positions 
in  order  to  know  how  they  adapt  themselves  to  them.  Until 
more  is  known  of  these  subjects  and  legislation  has  decided 
minimum  wage  questions,  the  trade  school  must  in  a  way  insure 
its  students  proper  pay,  hours,  and  conditions  by  trying  to  adjust 
industrial  life  to  them.  Hence  the  wise  trade  school  will  help 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  115 

in  the  solution  by  placing  her  trained  students  in  positions,  for 
the  school  knowing  the  capacities  of  the  pupils  can  best  find  the 
right  niche  for  each.  The  necessary  investigations  help  keep  the 
school  work  practical. 

Beyond  the  requirements  already  mentioned  stretches  a  great 
field  at  which  we  have  only  time  to  glance.  A  trade  school  that 
merely  offers  courses  in  trade  processes  and  forgets  the  develop- 
ment of  the  mind  and  spirit  of  the  student  is  losing  its  greatest 
opportunity  for  service.  Girls  who  are  trustworthy,  who  can 
think  and  act,  who  have  judgment,  available  education,  fair 
health  and  the  knowledge  of  how  to  keep  it  so  will  be  valuable 
as  home  keepers  during  the  time  of  their  business  life  and  after 
it.  To  obtain  these  things  for  each  pupil  should  be  the  aim  of 
each  trade  school,  that  it  may  turn  out  capable  workers  who  also 
will  be  responsible  citizens.  Plans  to  develop  industrial  intelli- 
gence and  ideals  of  life  have  brought  forth  new  arrangements  of 
academic  courses.  A  worker  who  has  skill  but  whose  education 
is  lacking  cannot  rise  high  in  her  trade.  The  market  is  full  of 
tragedies  of  women  whose  poor  early  education  stood  in  the  way 
of  advance  to  the  forewoman's  position.  Accurate  expression, 
ability  to  write  business  letters,  the  use  of  arithmetic  in  specific 
trades,  the  relation  of  trade  to  the  community,  the  workers'  re- 
lations to  the  success  of  their  employers,  the  laws  enacted  to  help 
them,  their  own  relation  to  new  laws,  and  the  principles  under- 
lying unions.  To  bring  about  practical  work  in  art,  history, 
geography,  arithmetic,  civics  and  economics,  entirely  new  courses 
of  study  have  been  made  necessary.  Womanly  ideals  also  have 
been  developed  through  new  means.  The  time  is  too  short  in 
some  trade  schools  for  actual  training  in  housekeeping,  domestic 
science,  or  domestic  art;  but  the  schools  already  formed,  s'uch 
as  the  Boston  Trade  School  and  the  Manhattan  Trade  School, 
have  proved  beyond  a  doubt  that  through  these  new  business 
fields  of  study  opened  to  help  the  working  girl  it  is  possible  to 
train  the  womanly  virtues  and  turn  out  wise,  dependable, 
thoughtful  women. 


n6  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

VOCATIONAL  AND  OCCUPATIONAL 
EDUCATION  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY1 

Everybody  is  agreed  that  a  certain  amount  of  vocational  edu- 
cation is  desirable.  Nobody  knows  exactly  how  to  give  it.  "Pre- 
pare the  children  for  practical  life"  is  the  order  of  the  parents, 
and  particularly  of  the  business  world.  But  precisely  what 
changes  are  necessary  to  prepare  better  for  practical  life  is  as 
yet  unknown.  Experiment!  experiment!  experiment!  is  there- 
fore the  rule.  But  let  not  the  experiments  affect  the  efficiency 
of  the  classroom  instruction  in  the  staple  subjects.  For  the  in- 
dustrial work,  being  on  trial,  may  not  meet  the  expectations  of 
its  advocates,  and  the  known  good  must  not  be  sacrificed  until 
something  else  has  been  proven  to  be  better. 

New  York  city  is  testing  a  variety  of  methods  and  will  prob- 
ably retain  some  features  from  all  of  them.  With  its  800,000 
pupils  and  its  magnitudinous,  complex  manufacturing  and  com- 
mercial life,  it  is  finding  that  no  single  plan  of  industrial  educa- 
tion will  meet  all  needs.  No  one  course  can  be  adapted  to  the 
hundreds  of  occupations  which  offer  work  to  its  school  grad- 
uates. 

First,  it  is  desirable  to  give  a  practical  turn  to  the  instruction 
of  the  children  in  the  grammar  grades,  putting  them  so  far  as 
possible  in  touch  with  the  conditions  of  work-a-day  life,  giving 
them  the  knowledge  of  wood  and  iron,  of  paint  and  electric  wir- 
ing, of  tools  and  machines,  of  soils  and  plants,  which  the  farmer's 
boy  acquired  as  a  matter  of  course  as  he  helped  his  father  with 
the  chores.  City  life  has  robbed  the  child  of  the  chances  to  get 
acquainted  with  the  concrete  materials  and  processes  by  which 
the  world  is  kept  going.  Girls  do  not  help  their  mother  with  the 
milking  and  the  butter-making,  they  cannot  dig  in  the  garden, 
cultivate  their  own  flower  patches,  run  around  in  the  hay  fields, 
make  their  own  dresses  and  hats  at  home,  and  cook  and  serve 
the  meals  during  harvest  for  the  hired  hands.  The  realm  of 
books  to  which  the  school  introduces  them  is  not  supplemented 
with  the  realm  of  things  which  is  equally  important.  Study  is 
not  balanced  by  work.  So  the  city  child,  in  the  traditional  school, 
is  not  fully  educated. 

xBy  John  Martin.  Nation.  102:696-7.  June  29,  1916. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  117 

To  rectify  this  defect,  New  York  city  is  introducing  the  work- 
study-and-play  system  of  school  organization  which  has  been 
most  fully  developed  by  Mr.  William  Wirt  at  Gary,  Ind.  When 
Mr.  Wirt  was  engaged  to  advise  on  the  changes  needed  in  New 
York  for  the  introduction  of  this  system,  the  authorities  were 
at  their  wits'  ends  to  find  the  funds  for  seating  all  the  school 
children.  About  140,000  boys  and  girls  were  not  getting  a  full 
day's  schooling  of  five  hours.  Buildings  were  unduly  congested. 
More  millions  of  dollars  than  could  be  found  would  have  been 
necessary  to  furnish  a  reserved  seat  for  each  child.  If  therefore, 
in  addition  to  supplying  '.ie  old-fashioned  school  seat,  the  city 
was  to  furnish  worksh  s,  playgrounds,  gardens,  auditoriums, 
kitchens,  home  econon  apartments,  and  the  like,  the  answer 
came,  "It  can't  be  done  The  funds  simply  could  not  be  found, 
without  passing  the  constitutional  limit  both  as  to  bonding  the 
city  and  as  to  the  maximum  tax-rate. 

But,  fortunately,  Mr.  Wirt  had  faced  similar  limitations  and 
had  realized  that,  if  the  school  curriculum  were  to  be  continually 
enriched,  economies  must  be  discovered.  While  parsimony  in 
school  expenditures  is  bad  policy,  wastefulness  in  school  expen- 
ditures is  also  bad  policy.  When  the  school  system  was  the  Cin- 
derella among  the  city  departments,  and  politicians,  often  ignor- 
ant and  corrupt,  granted  it  appropriations  only  after  everything 
else  had  been  attended  to,  it  was  the  custom  for  friends  of  the 
schools  to  regard  every  added  expenditure  as  a  gain.  But  that 
day  has  long  since  passed  in  New  York.  The  size  of  the  appro- 
priation is  not  necessarily  a  measure  of  the  good  that  is  done. 
When  forty  millions  a  year  are  available,  waste  and  prodigality 
creep  in,  unless  the  school  administrators  are  compelled  contin- 
uously to  seek  ways  of  doing  the  work  just  as  well  at  less  cost. 
But  to  school  people  the  idea  of  stricter  economy,  of  devising 
cheaper  ways  of  accomplishing  the  same  object,  of  thinking  up  a 
more  effective  use  of  existing  facilities,  comes  no  more  easily 
than  it  does  to  other  people.  Mr.  Wirt  had  created  for  himself, 
in  effect,  the  position  of  efficiency  engineer  for  school  systems. 
He  had  worked  out,  through  numerous  experiments,  extending 
over  many  years,  a  plan  for  supplying  the  modern  requirements 
for  making  city  schools  meet  the  all-round  needs  of  the  children 
without  appreciably  increasing  the  cost.  And,  as  to  the  supply  of 
accommodations  for  giving  a  full  school  day,  he  could  actually 
show  a  substantial  saving. 


ii8  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

No  wonder,  then,  that  the  authorities  of  New  York  city, 
harassed  by  a  shortage  of  money  which  threatened  to  get  worse 
as  the  construction  of  the  subways  proceeded,  welcomed  Mr. 
Wirt  as  a  deliverer.  A  better  education  at  less  cost  for  new 
buildings  was  a  programme  which  needed  no  expert  salesman  to 
recommend  it.  This  economy  is  produced  by  putting  the  class- 
room seat  to  a  double  use  each  day.  When  workshops,  audi- 
toriums, school  gardens,  and  generous  playgrounds  were  un- 
known in  city  schools,  the  lads  and  lasses,  perforce,  sat  in  their 
seats  almost  the  livelong  day.  But  as  the  extra  facilities  were 
added  they  began  to  leave  their  seats  during  certain  periods,  and 
so  the  classroom  seat  got  less  and  less  use.  At  the  same  time 
the  workshop  and  auditorium  were  not  fully  employed.  Often 
a  splendid  auditorium  was  empty  as  a  tomb  three-fourths  of  the 
time,  and  the  playgrounds  as  deserted  as  Sahara  except  for  two 
or  three  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four.  The  solution,  once  sug- 
gested, seemed  so  obvious  that  people  wondered  why  school 
superintendents  hadn't  all  thought  of  it  together.  Simply  arrange 
the  school  programme  so  that  one  set  of  children  can  be  in  the 
classroom,  while  another  set,  equally  large,  is  in  the  auditorium, 
workshop,  playground,  library,  and  park.  Thus  you  get  a  dupli- 
cate school  and  can  fully  accommodate  50  or  60  per  cent  more 
children  with  the  same  outlay,  giving  to  each  a  far  better  school 
than  the  children  of  a  previous  generation  enjoyed. 

At  first  the  Board  of  Education  sanctioned  the  organization 
of  Public  School  45,  The  Bronx,  and  Public  Schol  89,  Brooklyn, 
under  Mr.  Wirt's  direction.  But  as  annexes  to  cost  $220,000 
were  needed  in  these  cases  before  the  system  could  be  put  into 
full  operation,  and  the  congestion  in  the  Bronx  schools  was  so 
bad  as  to  brook  no  delay  in  rectifying  it,  the  Board,  with  the 
unanimous  approval  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents,  adopted 
Mr.  Wirt's  report  for  the  reorganization  of  a  group  of  twrelve 
additional  schools  in  The  Bronx,  at  a  further  cost  of  $620,000. 
This  considerable  outlay  was  for  new  sites,  annexes,  alterations, 
and  equipment. 

Acquiring  sites  and  erecting  annexes  takes  time,  and  as  yet 
only  seven  of  the  twelve  schools  are  operating  on  the  duplicate 
plan.  While  this  work  of  remodelling  the  buildings  was  proceed- 
ing, active  discussion  upon  the  merits  of  the  duplicate  plan  con- 
tinued, sometimes  unhappily  biassed  by  political  partisanship. 
But  the  Board  of  Education,  without  distinction  of  party,  showed 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  119 

an  unusual  openmindedness,  while  the  Board  of  Superintendents, 
despite  their  doubt  as  to  whether  any  good  thing  could  come 
out  of  Nazareth,  displayed  a  professional  breadth  of  mind  highly 
creditable.  Everybody  was  agreed  that,  without  deciding  that 
the  duplicate  plan  was  better  than  the  plan  of  furnishing  a  re- 
served seat  and  a  reserved  workshop  bench  and  auditorium  place 
for  each  pupil — if  funds  would  allow — the  duplicate  school  was 
superior  to  the  makeshift,  part-time  system  which,  in  our  city, 
it  was  superseding;  and  that,  under  actual  conditions  the  lavish 
provision  of  every  kind  which  a  few  private  schools  make  is  an 
unrealizable  dream  for  our  children  unless  we  adopt  some  form 
of  the  duplicate  school  idea. 

In  April,  1916,  after  prolonged  consideration,  the  Board  of 
Superintendents  unanimously  recommended  that  the  Board  of 
Education  should  request  an  appropriation  of  $4,002,195  in  order 
to  complete  the  reorganization  of  the  situation  in  The  Bronx 
(including  a  new  building),  to  extend  the  duplicate  system  to 
two  more  schools  in  Jhe  Bronx,  to  reorganize  schools  in  two 
districts  in  Manhattan  and  in  four  districts  in  Brooklyn,  besides 
one  school  in  Queens;  in  all,  thirty-five  additional  schools  were 
to  be  organized  on  a  duplicate-school  plan.  Its  report  was 
adopted  by  the  Board  of  Education  with  only  one  dissenting 
vote. 

Then  the  miraculous  happened.  For  the  first  time  in  recorded 
history  the  Board  of  Estimate  decided  to  give  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation more  than  it  asked.  On  May  19  it  voted,  in  addition  to 
various  amounts  for  high-school  purpose,  $5,106,222  "for  the 
purpose  of  altering  old  school  buildings,  acquiring  new  sites  or 
additions  to  existing  sites,  and  constructing  new  buildings  or 
additions  to  old  buildings  in  the  more  congested  sections  of  the 
city,  to  the  end  that  part-time  and  double-session  classes  may  be 
abolished,  unsatisfactory  and  emergency  classrooms  and  build- 
ings abandoned,  oversized  classes  reduced,  and  expected  growth 
in  population  provided  for  through  the  adoption  of  a  duplicate- 
school  plan  of  organization." 

Thus  New  York  city  is  fully  committed  to  a  reorganization, 
which  may  cost  altogether  twenty  million  dollars,  but  which  will 
rid  the  city  of  the  long-standing  disgrace  of  part-time  and  offer 
a  modernized  education  in  a  modernized  building  to  its  army  of 
children. 

So  much  has  been  done  to  supply  that  occupational  activity 


120  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

for  children  in  the  grammar  grades  which  is  a  general  prepara- 
tion for  life  and  is  particularly  valuable  to  that  majority  which 
will  work  with  its  hands  for  a  livelihood. 

Next  above  that  stage  comes  the  more  intensive  vocational 
training  of  the  children  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  which 
is  supplied  in  the  five  Ettinger  schools.  Here  each  pupil  may,  if 
he  chooses,  spend  three  hours  a  day  in  well-equipped  shops,  ten 
weeks  being  given  to  each  shop,  in  order  both  to  acquire  manual 
dexterity  at  plumbing,  electric  wiring,  woodworking,  machine- 
shop  practice,  sheet  metal  working,  millinery,  dressmaking,  nov- 
elty-working, household  economics,  and  the  like,  and  to  discover 
aptitudes  which  will  indicate  what  trade  to  follow  permanently. 

It  is  a  moot  point  whether  three  hours  a  day  is  not  an  ex- 
cessive amount  for  a  seventh-year  pupil  to  spend  in  the  shop, 
even  though  the  school  day  be  lengthened  to  six  hours.  Prob- 
ably in  each  of  these  schools  a  ninth  year  will  be  added  in  1917, 
and  the  shop  practice  be  reduced  for  the  seventh  and  eighth 
grades  and  concentrated  more  upon  the  ninth  grade.  Finally,  a 
tenth  year  may  be  added,  and  the  schools  thus  be  converted  into 
intermediate  schools,  to  which  pupils  may  go  who  expect  to 
enter  manual  occupations  and  cannot  take  a  full  high-school 
course. 

At  the  top  of  the  Garyized  schools  a  high-school  crown  may 
also  be  placed  in  order  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  rapidly  increas- 
ing number  who  graduate  from  the  grammar  school  one  or  two 
years  before  they  can  be  employed  for  wages.  In  Gary  the  high 
school  is  housed  under  the  same  roof  with  the  elementary  school, 
and  the  artificial  break  at  the  eighth  year  is  avoided.  Ulti- 
mately, some  schools  of  that  kind  may  be  organized  in  New 
York.  Every  scheme  for  relieving  the  deplorable  conditions  of 
the  high  schools  must  be  utilized. 

What  further  may  be  done  for  vocational  education?  Shall 
specific  trades  be  taught?  The  answer  cannot  be  dogmatic.  But 
experience  in  the  Vocational  School  for  Boys  has  shown  that 
some  trades  can  be  taught  and  that  many  boys  seek  the  teaching, 
while  the  Manhattan  Trade  School  for  Girls  has  demonstrated 
that  hundreds  of  young  girls  who  must  enter  semi-skilled  occu- 
pations are  glad  to  increase  their  earning  power  by  taking 
courses  for  nine  and  twelve  months  in  factory  trades.  Since 
the  children  who  can  remain  at  school  to  the  age  of  seventeen 
or  eighteen  receive  the  expensive  high-school  course,  it  is  but 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  121 

just  to  offer  the  less  favored  children  who  must  leave  at  sixteen 
or  earlier  a  shorter  course  to  prepare  for  their  chosen  career. 
Garyized  and  Ettinger  schools  will  hardly  eliminate  the  need  for 
distinctively  trade  schools,  though  the  trades  which  can  profi- 
tably be  taught  in  school  are  so  few  that  the  number  of  such 
schools  will  be  narrowly  limited.  A  few,  however,  are  urgently 
required.  In  1916  we  opened  the  Brooklyn  Vocational  School 
for  Boys,  and  it  was  overcrowded  within  a  month  or  two.  We 
plan  to  extend  it  in  1917.  The  Murray  Hill  School,  though  in- 
adequately equipped,  has  also  proved  very  popular  and  efficient. 

For  the  children  of  fourteen  to  sixteen  who  have  gone  to 
work,  continuation  classes  have  been  started,  especially  in  de- 
partment stores  and  hotels.  Usually,  in  these  classes,  the  pupils 
are  taught  the  ordinary  school  subjects  two  hours  a  day  in  the 
employer's  time.  For  arithmetic  the  pupils  make  out  bills;  for 
writing,  they  copy  addresses;  they  spell  the  words  they  must 
daily  use,  and  any  history  or  geography  is  connected  with  the 
goods  they  handle.  The  Board  of  Education  is  considering  a 
considerable  extension  of  the  continuation  classes  by  the  exercise 
of  its  legal  power  to  compel  attendance  for  four  hours  a  week 
when  once  it  has  established  the  classes.  Thus,  those  thousands 
of  children  who  go  to  work  without  completing  the  grammar 
grades  will  add  a  further  modicum  af  academic  instruction  to 
the  meagre  vocational  training  which  they  are  getting  in  the 
semi-skilled  and  unskilled  places  they  fill.  A  few  continuation 
classes  are  held  for  apprentices  in  skilled  machine  occupations 
who  attend  for  one  hour  in  their  own  time,  and  another  hour  in 
the  employer's  time. 

I  have  said  that  few  trades,  relatively,  can  be  taught  com- 
pletely in  schools.  Gainful  occupations  are  so  multifarious,  the 
equipment  which  a  learner  must  handle  is  so  costly  and  changes 
so  fast,  trades  are  so  unstable  and  learners  are  so  scattered 
(many  establishments  having  only  one  boy  or  girl  helper),  that 
classes  and  schools  would  be  too  expensive  to  equip,  and  often 
too  small  to  justify  the  engagement  of  a  teacher.  So  the  co- 
operative plan  is  being  tried,  under  which  about  540  high  school 
pupils  of  the  second  and  higher  years  are  arranged  in  pairs  and 
work  in  alternate  weeks  in  shop,  office,  store,  or  factory,  being 
paid  for  their  work  at  ordinary  apprentice  rates.  Thus  the 
school  is  under  no  necessity  to  equip  itself  with  elaborate  ma- 
chinery, and  the  pupil,  while  continuing  the  high  school  educa- 


122  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

tion,  is  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  a  skilled  occupation.  Co- 
ordinators, selected  high  school  teachers,  arrange  plans  of  work 
for  both  shop  and  school,  that  the  pupil  may  not  be  exploited  by 
the  employer  nor  the  employer  be  defrauded  by  the  pupil.  Many 
difficulties  have  been  encountered  in  the  installation  of  this  novel 
plan,  difficulties  which  show  that,  like  the  other  forms  of  voca- 
tional training,  its  application  is  limited.  It  cannot  be  expected 
that,  permanently,  a  boy  or  girl  can  do  as  much  study  in  half 
the  school  time  as  others  do  in  full  time.  Therefore,  progress 
at  the  normal  rate  is  impossible.  Employers  are  under  constant 
temptation  to  consider  the  cooperative  pupils  as  cheap  helpers 
and  to  neglect  to  teach  them  different  processes  month  by  month. 
It  is  already  clear  that  the  cooperative  plan  does  not  offer  a 
royal  road  to  the  universal  industrial  training  even  of  these  boys 
and  girls  who  can  afford,  with  its  help,  to  go  through  high 
school,  though  it  is  valuable  in  selected  cases. 

In  all  the  schools  which  are  equipped  with  workshops,  both 
elementary  and  high,  evening  classes  are  also  held,  to  enable 
those  who  are  employed  during  the  day  to  widen  their  knowledge 
of  trade.  Scores  of  short  courses  are  offered,  the  instruction  is 
given  by  experienced  workmen,  and  amateurism  is  discouraged. 
Though  a  few  students  have  managed,  through  evening  classes, 
to  change  their  trade,  the  great  majority  improve  themselves  at 
the  trade  they  already  practice. 

Altogether,  though  New  York  is  not  satisfied  with  its  indus- 
trial education  and  each  month  extends  and  improves  it,  yet  the 
amount  that  is  accomplished  compares  favorably  with  the  work 
done  in  any  other  American  city. 


THE  GARY  SYSTEM :  A  SUMMARY  AND 
A  CRITICISM1 

It  is  unfortunate  that  no  advocate  of  the  Gary  system  can  be 
found  who  will  speak  of  it  in  terms  of  anything  but  unqualified 
approval.  So  if  we  are  to  accept  at  its  face  value  the  latest 
sympathetic  appraisal,"  we  must  conclude  that  the  problem  of 

1  By  H.  de  W.  Fuller.  Nation  102:698-9.  June  29,  1916. 

2  The  Gary  Schools.     By  Randolph  S.   Bourne.  Boston.  Houghton  Mif- 
flin  Co.  $1.15  net. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  123 

public  education  in  this  country  has  been  definitely  solved.  The 
outworn  cultural  plan  upon  which,  in  recent  years,  was  grafted 
a  system  which  made  for  both  greater  diversity  and  a  somewhat 
utilitarian  purpose,  is  now  eclipsed  by  an  educational  philosophy 
which  at  heart  is  said  to  be  cultural  and  in  its  workings  utili- 
tarian. The  secret  of  the  Gary  plan  lies,  we  are  told,  in  the  fact 
that  students  learn  by  doing.  Book  learning  is  of  no  value  in 
itself;  it  must  justify  itself  in  the  laboratory  or  in  some  other 
arena  of  everyday  life.  In  a  word,  this  system  is  supposed  to 
impart  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  the  intense  interest 
which  a  pioneer  must  have  in  adjusting  himself  to  a  new  en- 
vironment and  in  overcoming  the  difficulties  which  it  presents. 

Superintendent  Wirt,  of  the  Gary  Schools,  conveniently 
visualizes  his  aims  by  asserting  that  his  system  reproduces  in 
the  city  the  spirit  of  the  country  town,  where  children,  by  help- 
ing with  the  work  of  the  farm,  learned  much  that  was  practical, 
besides  undergoing  the  routine  training  at  school.  In  the  parallel 
should  be  included  the  heterogeneous  activities  of  the  old  village 
church.  For  the  purpose  of  the  new  educational  order  is  to  pro- 
vide a  group  of  buildings  which  shall  be  a  social  as  well  as  an 
educational  centre.  By  a  lengthening  of  the  school  day,  children 
are  kept  from  the  streets,  because  the  plant  is  open  in  the  eve- 
nings parents  are  attracted  to  night  classes,  and  they  may  also 
bring  their  children,  who  are  free  either  to  attend  the  lectures 
or  to  play  about  the  halls  and  grounds.  Further,  an  auditorium, 
which  is  an  important  factor  in  the  system,  is  at  the  disposal, 
in  off-hours,  of  any  members  of  the  community  who  wish  to 
thresh  out  issues  pertaining  to  civic  improvement  or  other  phases 
of  the  community's  life.  As  students  of  all  classes  from  the 
kindergarten  through  the  high  school  grades  are  housed  in  the 
same  building,  it  will  be  seen  that  any  given  school  at  Gary 
actively  symbolizes  almost  the  entire  range  of  interests  of  the 
whole  city. 

Mr.  Shaw  has  said,  "Those  who  can,  do;  those  who  can't, 
teach."  By  this  token,  we  may  conclude  that  there  is  very  little 
teaching,  at  least  of  the  old-fashioned  sort,  at  Gary.  Teachers, 
it  appears,  are  to  a  large  extent  merely  helpers;  even  the  little 
children  in  the  kindergarten  are  doing  all  manner  of  things.  Yet 
no  one  should  fancy  that  this  emphasis  put  upon  doing  implies 
an  absorption  in  the  present.  Ancient  history  and  ancient  lan- 
guages are  taught;  only  they  are  not  studied  for  the  discipline 


124  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

which  has  usually  been  held  to  be  their  main  value,  but  for  the 
service  which  they  render  here  and  now.  So  I  am  told  that  the 
value  of  Latin  is  graphically  set  forth  on  bulletin  boards.  One 
series  of  ingenious  lessons  has  to  do  with  the  planning  of  cities, 
starting  with  Athens  and  including  Rome,  mediaeval  England  and 
the  Continent,  South  America,  Modern  Europe,  and  America. 
The  comparison  is  vitalized  by  contrasting  other  places,  ancient 
and  modern,  with  the  site  of  Gary.  Through  its  great  diversity 
of  interests,  the  system  at  Gary  is  enabled  to  illustrate  the  bear- 
ings on  actual  life  of  whatever  subject  is  studied.  If  it  is 
mechanics,  the  numerous  workshops  are  there  for  the  purpose. 
If  it  is  mathematics  or  drawing,  the  students  have  a  chance  to 
apply  their  learning  by  making  the  specifications  for  the  various 
renovations  which  are  often  necessary.  They  have  experience  in 
accounting  by  managing  for  a  certain  period  the  school  store. 
They  decorate  the  rooms,  make  desks  and  benches,  learn  his- 
tory by  constructing  maps,  and,  owing  to  the  absence  of  any 
sharp  lines  of  demarcation  among  the  grades  (thus  small  chil- 
dren are  helpers  to  older  children  and  constantly  moving  about 
in  shops  and  laboratories),  the  students  are  supposed  to  dis- 
cover not  only  that  all  knowledge  can  be  applied,  but  that  its 
various  branches  are  clearly  correlated. 

One  of  the  great  merits  of  the  Gary  system,  especially  for 
overcrowded  centres,  is  the  economy  with  which  it  can  accom- 
modate a  large  number  of  pupils.  The  appeal  on  this  side  is 
so  strong  that  it  is  likely  to  be  installed  in  many  parts  of  the 
country  unless  large  flaws  on  the  educational  side  can  be  dis- 
covered. The  defects  of  other  systems  are  admittedly  serious. 
The  cultural  system,  which  was  good  in  itself,  has  been  largely 
vitiated  by  the  continual  addition  to  the  curricula  of  "practical" 
courses.  Whereas  at  Gary  it  is  said  that  no  subject  of  knowl- 
edge is  regarded  in  itself  as  superior  to  any  other,  in  most  public 
schools  utilitarian  courses  have  a  lure  which  book-learning  pure 
and  simple  cannot  hope  for.  The  Gary  system  possesses  the 
advantage  of  having  reorganized  knowledge  consistently  from 
one  point  of  view,  which  is  that  all  knowledge  can  be  shown 
to  be  vital,  since  it  can  be  applied.  One  can  easily  understand 
what  it  means  to  ambitious  children  of  the  poor  and  to  their 
parents  to  be  set  in  a  community  which  is  Argus-eyed  and  where 
every  eye  has  a  hand  to  do  its  bidding.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see 
how  by  such  means  an  intellectual  curiosity  can  be  created  com- 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  125 

parable  to  a  small  boy's  interest  in  the  workings  of  a  country 
blacksmith  shop.  For  Gary  is  not  an  industrial  school  in  the  sense 
of  directing  a  given  student  to  a  definite  vocation,  and  hence 
constraining  interest  at  too  early  an  age,  the  idea  being  to  pre- 
pare him  for  any  one  of  a  number  of  vocations.  During  much 
the  greater  part  of  his  career  a  student  at  Gary  watches  and 
participates  in  the  great,  broad  spectacle  of  applied  knowledge; 
it  is  only  in  the  later  of  the  high  school  grades  that  he  may  con- 
centrate severely.  "The  Gary  curriculum,"  says  Mr.  Bourne, 
"seems  to  represent  a  determined  effort  to  break  down  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  'utilitarian*  and  the  'cultural.' " 

One  of  the  serious  conditions  with  which  the  Gary  system 
attempts  to  cope  is  that  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  "of  the  chil- 
dren who  begin  the  American  public  school,  only  one-fifth  ever 
reach  even  the  first  year  of  high  school."  The  feeling  is  that  the 
other  four-fifths  should  receive  a  more  fundamental  as  well  as 
a  broader  training  than  that  provided  by  the  primary  and  gram- 
mar grades.  As  the  great  majority  of  these  unfortunates  will 
soon  enter  industrial  life,  Gary  tries  also  to  inculcate  into  them  a 
certain  amount  of  Yankee  resourcefulness  and  self-reliance.  In 
Gary  itself,  as  in  the  case  in  New  York  city,  the  problem  is 
sharpened  by  the  presence  of  many  pupils  either  foreign-born  or 
the  children  of  foreign-born  parents,  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
system  is  in  itself  a  real  melting-pot 

To  this  extent  at  least  Gary  has  been  eminently  successful. 
Whether  taken  as  a  whole  it  is  the  best  system  which  can  be 
devised  for  this  country  is  another  question.  One  cannot  read 
Mr.  Bourne's  book  or  the  chapters  on  Gary  by  Professor  Dewey, 
of  whom  Superintendent  Wirt  was  formerly  a  pupil  without 
sensing  some  speciousness.  Mr.  Bourne  says :  "Studies  are 
taught  also  with  as  much  bearing  as  possible  on  the  social  activ- 
ities of  the  larger  city  community.  The  subject  matter  in  the 
history  and  geography  classes  is  really  'The  Sociological  World 
We  Live  In/  and  textbooks,  histories,  atlases,  globes,  news- 
papers, and  magazines  become  the  reference  sources  and  the  ma- 
terials for  understanding  that  world."  "Sociological"  is  a  word 
to  conjure  with  these  days;  it  is  also  a  very  tricky  word,  and 
will  remain  so  just  so  long  as  sociology  is  made  to  include  nearly 
every  human  activity  under  the  sun.  And  it  is  beyond  question 
that  no  little  mischief  is  done  to  boys  and  girls  by  teachers  not 
competent  to  generalize  about  society.  Herein  lies  the  crux 


126  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

of  the  whole  matter.  Gary  will  not  be  strictly  utilitarian;  it 
will  not  be  cultural  in  the  sense  of  being  bookish.  Yet  to  fuse 
the  two  requires  a  teacher  of  marked  talent.  Now  I  am  told 
that  the  teachers  at  Gary  are  not  chosen  for  exceptional  abil- 
ity; the  educational  machinery  of  the  plant  is  said  to  be  so 
carefully  thought  out  that  even  mediocre  instructors  can  keep 
it  running.  Many  are  bound  to  doubt  this.  Children  cannot 
with  profit  teach  themselves  sociology,  a  subject  which  can 
be  taught  only  by  a  person  possessed  of  mature  common  sense. 
And  this  criticism  will  hold  for  many  other  subjects  in  the 
case  of  which  the  attempt  is  made  to  apply  theory  to  life.  Ad- 
mitting that  a  great  genius  could  extract  from  the  system  at 
Gary  revolutionary  benefits,  the  question  remains  whether  the 
danger  of  hasty  application  is  sufficiently  avoided.  The  system  is 
confronted  by  the  following  dilemma.  By  attempting  to  be  both 
cultural  and  utilitarian,  it  may  furnish  students  with  thumb- 
screw theories;  that  is  to  say,  it  may  give  the  impression  that 
there  are  no  bridgeless  gulfs  between  theory  and  practice.  Or  by 
avoiding  altogether  the  spheres  where  theory  and  practice  do  not 
coincide,  it  will  become  strictly  utilitarian  in  spite  of  itself. 

One  cannot  be  sure  that  a  proper  function  of  education  is 
not  to  dwell  more  on  theory  than  on  practice.  Nor  can  one  be 
sure  that  the  mind  is  not  better  helped  to  right  ways  of  thinking 
by  drill  in  mere  book-learning  than  it  is  by  constant  illustration 
from  everyday  life.  By  the  latter  process,  learning  can,  it  is 
true,  be  vitalized ;  but  if  it  thus  contains  grievous  errors,  its  very 
vividness,  especially  in  the  minds  of  the  young,  makes  for  long- 
standing confusion.  The  human  interests  of  any  community  are 
not  cold  facts  which  can  be  sorted  out  by  the  amateur.  They 
are  a  complex  of  exact  science  overlaid  with  generous  impulses, 
personal  aspirations  and  jealousies,  and  a  psychology  which  only 
a  master  can  disentangle.  Is  it  desirable  that  youth  should  be  set 
to  solving  the  large  problems  of  the  country?  Is  it  not  better 
that  they  should  buckle  down  to  the  tasks  of  mental  discipline 
while  their  minds  are  in  the  most  formative  period? 

The  question  just  touched  on  goes  to  the  heart  of  the  edu- 
cational systems  which  have  been  handed  down  for  centuries. 
Nor  is  it  difficult  to  present  the  merits  of  the  older  order.  The 
very  retirement  from  the  practical  world  which  children  in  the 
past  enjoyed  gave  their  subsequent  approach  to  the  business  of 
life  a  freshness  which  it  would  be  a  pity  to  lose.  The  schools 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  127 

at  Gary  are  an  almost  complete  microcosm.  Small  children  go 
through  the  motions  of  their  elders  in  forming  committees  for 
civic  betterment  and  all  the  othef  pressing  problems.  The  boast 
is  that  by  the  time  a  student  leaves  Gary  he  has  already  qualified 
as  a  real  American  citizen.  It  is  at  least  true  that  life  holds  no 
shocks  for  him,  for  he  has  been  taught  just  what  to  expect.  But 
there  is  a  great  danger  that  worldly-wise  products  of  Gary  will 
be  little  old  men  and  women  before  their  time.  For  it  stands  to 
reason  that  the  disillusion  comes  too  soon.  The  period  when 
mental  sturdiness  should  be  forming  is  obviously  not  the  proper 
time  for  a  youth  to  ease  off  his  thought  so  as  to  adjust  it  to  the 
various  compromises  which  life  requires.  Better  far  that  a  boy's 
mind  should  be  rigid  than  that  it  should  be  too  flexible. 

The  Gary  system  has  been  thrust  to  the  fore  at  a  critical 
period  in  the  history  of  this  country,  and  the  very  nicety  with 
which  it  appears  to  respond  to  present  tendencies  should  make 
one  the  more  suspicious  of  it  as  a  cure-all.  At  a  time  when  the 
excesses  of  the  "uplift"  movement  has  resulted  in  a  general 
letting  down  of  the  sense  of  individual  responsibility  on  the  part 
of  the  victims  of  economic  pressure,  Mr.  Wirt  proposes  a  plan 
in  which  discipline  is  almost  entirely  relaxed.  The  assumption 
at  Gary  is  that  a  child  knows  better  what  is  good  for  him  than 
the  teacher.  He  is  set  tasks  in  which  he  is  by  nature  interested. 
It  is  the  child  who  virtually  educates  himself.  For  his  benefit  an 
elaborate  machinery  is  put  in  motion  with  which  he  is  supposed 
to  carve  out  his  destiny.  Every  conceivable  device — including  an 
hour  each  day  for  "expression,"  when  his  inner  nature  receives 
free  play — is  used  to  keep  the  pupil's  interest  from  flagging. 
Interest  got  by  such  means  seems  dearly  bought  indeed. 

The  time  has  come  when  our  cities  must  decide  the  question 
whether  it  is  not  premature  to  set  aside  the  admonition  of  Bacon, 
who,  writing  "Of  Parents  and  Children,"  said:  "And  let  them 
[the  parents]  not  too  much  apply  themselves  to  the  disposition 
of  their  children,  as  thinking  they  will  take  best  to  that  which 
they  have  most  mind  to."  One  must  judge  of  children,  Professor 
Dewey  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  by  one's  self,  and  every 
adult  knows  that  there  are  numerous  occasions  when  he  must 
lash  his  listlessness  into  subjection.  Only  by  the  hardest  sort 
of  self-discipline  can  an  adult  sometimes  push  to  completion  a 
task  which  all  along  he  has  known  was  worth  the  doing.  Can 
children  of  themselves  be  expected  to  have  this  persistence? 


128  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

Not  unless  human  nature  can  be  utterly  changed.  If  this  persist- 
ence, the  willingness  to  persevere  in  the  face  of  difficult  and  un- 
pleasant problems,  is  not  inculcated  in  childhood,  there  is  little 
hope  for  the  mental  fibre  of  the  future.  Hard-mindedness  is 
one  of  the  great  needs  of  the  age.  Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  it  can  be  produced  by  a  system  which  is  in  large  measure  the 
outgrowth  of  kindergarten  methods? 


A  GIRL'S  TRADE  SCHOOL  COURSE 
IN  DRESSMAKING1 

Believing  that  the  Milwaukee  Public  School  of  Trades  for 
Girls  stands  as  a  representative  of  what  any  school  system  may 
provide  for  the  girls  who  do  not  enter  high  school,  or  who  leave 
the  grammar  grades  for  various  reasons,  I  am  giving  a  detailed 
account  of  one  of  the  courses  of  study  as  given  at  the  present 
time  in  that  school,  hoping  that  it  may  be  helpful  to  others  in- 
terested in  this  line  of  work.  Much  that  has  been  written  upon 
vocational  work  for  girls  has  been  put  in  such  general  terms  that 
it  is  difficult  to  obtain  therefrom  definite,  practical  ideas. 

The  aim  of  this  school  is  to  train  the  girl  for  homemaking  and 
for  a  trade.  For  homemaking,  by  teaching  her  household  sani- 
tation through  the  actual  work  of  caring  for  a  model  five-room 
flat  which  is  a  part  of  the  school;  by  teaching  her  cooking 
through  the  actual  planning  and  preparation  of  food  eaten  daily 
by  teachers  and  pupils ;  by  giving  her  ideas  on  furnishing  a  home 
through  the  study  of  the  model  flat,  and  the  study  of  interior 
decoration  in  the  Art  Department.  For  a  trade  by  giving  train- 
ing in  the  technique  of  a  given  trade,  and  developing  those  quali- 
ties of  character  which  enable  the  girl  to  command  a  higher  wage 
than  the  untrained  girl  in  the  same  line  of  work.  The  whole 
training  aims  to  develop  responsibility,  adaptability,  and,  to  a  cer- 
tain degree,  efficiency. 

In  this  school  two  trades  are  taught,  dressmaking  and  milli- 
nery. The  school  is  in  session  five  days  a  week,  and  eleven 
months  a  year.  The  school  hours  are  from  8 130  a.m.  to  4.30  p.m. 
with  one  hour  for  lunch.  Five  hours  are  spent  in  trade,  two 

1  By  Mary  H.  Scott,  Instructor  in  Sewing,  Milwaukee  Public  Schools. 
Journal  of  Home  Economics.  7:185-91.  April,  1915. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  129 

hours  in  supplemental  work.  With  each  course  supplemental 
work  is  given  in  academic  studies,  drawing  and  design,  drafting 
(dressmaking  only),  cooking  and  household  arts,  and  physical 
training.  Two  years  is  the  time  required  by  the  average  girl 
entering  at  fourteen  to  complete  the  work.  Girls  taking  the 
dressmaking  course  spend  the  entire  time  in  the  school;  those 
taking  the  millinery  course  spend  a  year  and  a  half  in  the  school, 
and  must  have  two  successful  seasons  in  trade  before  graduation. 
This  article  deals  only  with  the  course  in  dressmaking.  Be- 
fore a  girl  learns  dressmaking  she  must  have  some  knowledge 
of  plain  sewing.  When  a  girl  selects  this  trade,  she  must  take 
the  elementary  sewing  work  unless  she  has  had  some  training  in 
this  line  before  entering.  The  course  in  dressmaking  as  given 
at  the  present  time  is  as  follows  : 

I.  Elementary  Sewing  and   Underwear:   Pincushion,   sewing 
bag,   apron,   towel,   nurse's   bag  or   belt,   cooking  apron    (two), 
drawers,    bloomers,    corset    cover,    princess    apron,    nightgown, 
small  princess  slip,  large  princess  slip,  petticoat,  kimona. 

II.  Children's  Department :  Rompers,  child's  first  dress,  child's 
second  dress,  child's  third  dress,  boy's  suit,  baby's  slip,  baby's 
dress,  child's  lingerie  dress. 

III.  Cotton  Dresses:    Two   plain   house   dresses,   two   fancy 
house  dresses. 

IV.  Waists:   Two  middy  blouses,   four   lingerie  waists,  two 
tailored  waists. 

V.  Advanced  Dressmaking:   Tight-fitted  lining,   two   silk  or 
wool  dresses,  two  fancy  dresses. 

VI.  Tailoring:  For  personal  use,  suit,  or  coat  and  skirt;  for 
custom  work,  suit,  or  coat  and  skirt. 

VII.  Advanced  Millinery:    Hat    and    accessories   of    ribbon, 
chiffon,  etc. 

At  the  completion  of  this  course,  the  girl  is  given  an  exami- 
nation which  consists  of  making  a  child's  dress,  a  simple  house 
dress,  a  silk  or  woolen  dress,  and  her  graduating  dress,  entirely 
upon  her  own  responsibility  without  the  supervision  of  the 
teacher.  She  is  usually  allowed  three  weeks  in  which  to  com- 
plete these  garments.  In  the  making  of  these  garments,  skill 
and  speed  are  two  most  important  factors.  Accuracy,  neatness, 
judgment,  honesty  of  work,  color,  and  design  also  are  considered. 

Throughout  the  entire  course,  the  girl  works  part  of  the  time 
to  make  garments  for  her  personal  use  and  part  of  the  time  for 


130  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

the  school.  The  order  work  is  most  important  as  it  is  by  means 
of  this  that  the  girl  has  the  opportunity  of  getting  experience  in 
handling  fine  materials  as  silks,  velvets,  nets,  lace  and  chiffons. 

The  teachers  of  the  various  departments  have  been  consulted 
and  the  consensus  of  opinion  is  that  the  girls  should  be  taught 
to  think  quickly,  to  understand  directions,  to  execute  well,  and 
to  be  reliable. 

In  the  elementary  sewing  and  underwear,  class  lessons  are 
combined  with  individual  instruction ;  but  a  girl's  advancement 
depends  solely  upon  her  ability,  and  application  to  her  work.  It 
seems  more  profitable  in  this  work  to  have  the  girls  make  a  num- 
ber of  simple  garments,  even  if  in  an  imperfect  way,  than  to 
exact  perfect  workmanship  from  beginners,  as  that  is  always 
discouraging  to  the  pupil  and  often  positively  harmful.  Ex- 
perience has  proved  that  the  teacher  in  this  department  should 
herself  first  work  out  the  problems  by  actually  making  the  gar- 
ment so  that  she  may  know  the  difficulties  and  how  to  meet  them. 
Such  preparation  means  economy  of  effort,  saving  of  time,  and 
better  results. 

Each  department  has  its  own  special  problems  but  the  methods 
used  are  similar,  consisting  of  lecture  or  demonstration  by  the 
teacher  and  practice  by  the  pupil  under  supervision. 

Very  early  the  girl  learns  that  "a  smart  effect  depends  upon 
workmanship,  cut,  and  material,  designed  for  and  adapted  to  a 
given  personality."  Carefulness  and  neatness  in  handling  ma- 
terial, and  proficiency  in  detail  must  be  emphasized  during  the 
entire  course,  but  in  the  advanced  classes  the  girls  must  acquire 
a  delicacy  of  touch  that  will  preserve  the  crispness  and  freshness 
of  very  fine  materials. 

The  supplemental  work  is  correlated  very  closely  with  the 
trade  work  in  the  class  room.  Simple  problems  in  fractions  be- 
come concrete  when  given  as  tucking  problems.  Drafting  be- 
comes more  interesting  when  the  girl  can  study  costumes,  and 
work  out  her  own  patterns.  The  study  of  color  harmony,  design, 
and  decoration  is  very  real  when  applied  to  stenciling  curtains 
and  draperies  or  embroidering  pillow  covers,  or  to  costume  design 
and  decoration  in  advanced  dressmaking. 

The  appreciation  of  color,  form,  and  workmanship  can  be  de- 
veloped to  a  large  degree,  even  when  natural  ability  is  lacking. 
To  the  ambitious  girl  more  difficult  problems  are  given.  As  far 
as  possible,  work  is  adapted  to  the  ability  of  the  girls.  Every 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  131 

effort  is  made  to  develop  character  and  those  qualities  which 
make  for  wholesome  and  happy  life. 

The  teacher's  knowledge  of  her  subject  must  be  such  as  will 
command  the  respect  of  her  pupils.  It  is  in  the  daily  association 
with  the  girl  that  neatness,  cleanliness,  good  taste,  obedience, 
kindness,  helpfulness,  responsibility,  and  honor  are  taught.  The 
teacher's  appearance,  care  of  the  class  room,  and  her  attitude 
toward  her  work  and  her  pupils  are  the  silent  forces  that  influ- 
ence character  at  this  age.  A  demand  has  been  created  for  the 
pupils  of  the  school,  and  girls  who  have  received  this  training 
do  command  a  higher  wage  than  the  untrained  girl  in  the  same 
line  of  work. 

The  Milwaukee  Public  School  of  Trades  for  Girls  is  but  five 
years  old.  During  that  time  the  registration  has  increased  from 
thirty  pupils  to  four  hundred.  It  has  now  more  than  one  hun- 
dred names  on  the  waiting  list  of  applicants  for  entrance.  These 
facts  clearly  indicate  the  need  of  such  a  school  in  Milwaukee. 


HOW  SHALL  INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION 

BE  ORGANIZED  TO  MEET  VARYING 

COMMUNITY  NEEDS1 

No  more  serious  blunder  may  be  made  by  friends  or  advo- 
cates of  industrial  education  than  to  champion  any  one  of  the 
various  important  means  of  training  boys  and  girls,  or  young 
men  and  young  women,  for  the  practical  work  of  life  in  a  too 
partisan  way.  Modern  industry  is  most  complex.  American 
social  conditions  are  extremely  varied;  and  we  cannot  too  often 
remind  ourselves  that  many  different  kinds  of  schools  are  needed 
to  train  all  types  of  young  people  for  the  almost  infinite  variety 
of  useful  occupations. 

Elementary  day  vocational  schools  for  young  persons  below 
the  age  of  sixteen  years,  full-time  day  trade  schools  for  older 
pupils,  half-time  and  part-time  day  schools,  for  which  young 
workers  are  excused  by  their  employers  for  a  limited  number  of 
hours  per  week,  cooperative  schools,  and  corporation  schools  are 

1  By  Arthur  L.  Williston,  Principal,  Wentworth  Institute,  Boston,  Mass. 
National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education.  Proceedings. 
1914:1-7. 


132  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

all  important,  and  each  one  of  these  types  has  its  own  place  in  a 
comprehensive  scheme  of  industrial  education.  I  trust  that  no 
one  will  infer  from  what  we  shall  say  this  afternoon  regarding 
the  value  and  importance  of  evening  industrial  schools  that  we 
fail  to  appreciate  the  work  to  be  done  by  the  various  types  of 
day  schools. 

It  is  true  that  the  evening  school  has  certain  limitations  that 
we  should  recognize  at  the  outset.  Its  sessions  come  at  the  end 
of  the  day's  work  when  the  body  and  mind  are  likely  to  be 
weary.  The  time  available  for  instruction  in  any  one  evening  is 
short,  and  the  number  of  evenings  per  week  that  the  school  may 
demand  for  its  work  is  likewise  limited.  Furthermore,  overtime 
work  in  the  students'  regular  employment,  change  of  residence 
and  shifting  occupation,  ill  health,  and  the  natural  attraction  of 
legitimate  recreation  are  all  likely  to  interrupt  the  classes  and  to 
decrease  the  efficiency  or  retard  the  progress  of  the  evening 
school.  After  all  proper  allowance  has  been  made  for  these 
handicaps  and  disturbing  influences,  however,  the  fact  still  re- 
mains that  the  evening  industrial  school  is  today  the  largest  and 
most  important  factor  in  American  industrial  education. 

We  cannot  question  that  the  ideal  time  for  industrial  educa- 
tion is  during  daylight  hours ;  but  we  must  face  facts,  and  it  is  a 
fact  that  a  practical  survey  of  the  conditions  surrounding  the 
young  people  who  are  to  become  the  skilled  workers  of  this 
country  is  convincing  that  relatively  few  of  the  boys  or  girls  who 
wish  to  learn  a  trade  or  enter  a  skilled  or  related  technical  occu- 
pation can  make  the  sacrifice  necessary  to  enter  a  day  trade 
school.  Moreover,  to  become  the  skilled  and  intelligent  worker 
about  which  this  Society  hears  so  much  requires  time.  Those 
who  are  really  to  arrive  at  this  destination  need  help  beyond  the 
fourteenth  year,  and  beyond  whatever  age  we  may  reasonably 
hope  that  compulsory  education  will  reach. 

The  evening,  therefore,  after  the  day's  work  is  done  is  the 
only  time  when  most  young  men  are  free.  This  time  is  their 
own.  They  may  use  it  for  recreation  and  enjoyment;  or,  if  they 
are  anxious  to  forge  ahead,  they  may  use  it  for  self-improve- 
ment and  systematic  study.  Ambition  to  advance  faster  than  the 
rank  and  file  of  their  fellows,  or  the  hope  of  some  position  in 
advance,  prompts  many  to  use  it  in  the  latter  way;  and  evening 
school  enrollments  continue  to  increase.  The  total  of  these  en- 
rollments at  the  present  time,  I  am  sure  it  is  entirely  safe  to  say, 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  133 

far  exceeds  the  total  enrollment  of  all  other  types  of  industrial 
schools  added  together. 

The  reports  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education 
show  increases  in  the  total  enrollment  of  evening  city  schools 
in  the  United  States  of  from  203,000  in  1901  to  374,900  in  1910, 
and  to  420,000  in  1912.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
reports  an  increase  in  its  educational  work  of  from  46,900,  five 
years  ago,  to  84,500  in  1914.  This  is  practically  all  in  evening 
classes.  These  totals  and  the  rate  of  development  which  they 
indicate  are  most  significant  and  impressive.  It  is  a  fact  that  an 
increasingly  large  proportion  of  the  students  in  evening  schools 
are  enrolled  in  industrial  courses  or  classes  that  are  definitely 
related  in  one  way  or  another  to  vocational  needs.  In  the 
majority  of  instances  we  find  the  general  rule  to  be  true  that 
whenever  industry  is  especially  active,  evening  schools  are  also 
flourishing. 

In  the  City  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  for  example,  for  a  number 
of  years  past,  approximately  30  per  cent  of  all  young  people  be- 
tween the  ages  of  15  and  20  years  are  enrolled  in  evening  schools; 
and  on  the  average  in  all  cities  of  Massachusetts,  the  correspond- 
ing figure  is  over  20  per  cent.  In  New  York  State  the  record  is 
almost  as  good ;  and  in  the  City  of  Richmond  there  is  an  enroll- 
ment in  evening  classes,  your  Superintendent  tells  us,  of  3,080 
pupils.  This  corresponds  to  the  equivalent  of  the  enrollment  of 
every  boy  and  girl  in  the  entire  population  of  Richmond  for  a 
period  of  about  I  1-3  years  of  his  or  her  life. 

If  then,  it  is  true  that  evening  industrial  schools  hold  such 
an  important  place  in  practical  education,  it  is  worth  our  while 
this  afternoon  to  study  carefully  the  question  of  the  best  way  of 
organizing  them  to  meet  the  needs  of  various  communities.  We 
have  seen  that  day  schools  of  different  kinds  are  needed  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  different  groups  of  persons,  and  the  in- 
dustrial needs  of  different  localities.  We  shall  find,  likewise,  that 
different  types  of  evening  schools  are  also  needed.  In  a  twenty 
minute  discussion,  it  is  quite  out  of  the  question  to  describe  all 
the  variations  in  organization  and  in  methods  of  instruction  that 
are  needed  to  fit  all  possible  circumstances.  I  can  only  hope  to 
outline  a  few  essential  conditions  and  point  out  some  of  the  more 
marked  contrasts. 

As  we  carefully  analyze  the  situation,  we  shall  find  that  the 
different  types  of  evening  schools  tend  to  divide  themselves  into 


134  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

a  small  number  of  comparatively  well  defined  groups.  Before 
describing  these  separate  groups,  however,  I  wish  first  to  call 
attention  to  a  number  of  the  common  points  that  experience  has 
shown  to  be  important  in  the  organization  of  all  types  of  evening 
industrial  classes ;  such  for  example  as  the  idea  that  has  been  so 
splendidly  emphasized  and  given  reality  throughout  the  whole  of 
this  Convention  by  the  Richmond  Survey — the  importance  of 
going  to  industry  itself  both  to  ascertain  the  needs  and  to  obtain 
the  subject  matter  of  instruction;  or  again,  the  idea  of  giving  due 
consideration  to  the  human  element  in  evening  industrial  schools, 
for  individuals  vary  in  as  many  ways  as  industries  vary.  No  two 
persons  are  alike  and  to  reach  each  one  effectively,  teaching  must 
be  adapted  to  his  peculiar  needs :  it  must  be  both  individual  and 
personal. 

In  turning  to  the  consideration  of  the  contrasts  in  organiza- 
tion of  the  different  types  of  industrial  courses  referred  to  a  mo- 
ment ago  we  find  three  of  these  types : 

First,  we  have  the  "long-term  single-subject  courses"  which 
may  be  given  in  any  of  the  various  mechanical  trades,  or  in  any 
of  the  technical  or  allied  subjects  that  are  naturally  related  to  any 
kind  of  industrial  activity. 

Second,  in  contrast  with  these,  we  have  "short-unit  courses" 
dealing  directly  and  briefly  with  a  single  phase  of  a  worker's 
needs.  These,  too,  cover  a  great  variety  of  possible  subjects; 
and  they  may  be  planned  so  as  to  be  separate,  or  either  to  follow 
one  another  in  sequence  or  be  readily  combined  in  groups  in 
other  ways. 

And  third,  there  are  "composite  technical  courses"  or  technical 
and  trade  courses  combined,  which  cover  several  years  of  coordi- 
nated instruction. 

Each  of  these  three  types  of  courses  has  a  distinct  and  an  im- 
portant field  of  its  own;  and  each  one  has  a  particular  group  of 
individuals  to  which  it  ministers  most  efficiently. 

The  long-term  courses  are  primarily  for  those  who  know  with 
a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  what  they  want;  for  those  who  are 
not  likely  to  become  discouraged  by  a  too  early  announcement 
of  the  length  of  time  that  will  be  required  to  reach  the  goal  that 
they  seek;  and  for  those  who  have  sufficient  faith  in  what  the 
school  can  do  for  them  to  make  them  willing  to  pay  the  price  in 
sacrifice  of  both  time  and  effort  that  is  necessary  to  obtain  the 
needed  training. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  135 

These  courses  may  follow  a  single  subject  or  a  single  line  of 
work  over  a  considerable  period  with  a  large  group  of  students; 
or  they  may  start  with  the  large  group  of  men  and  later  differen- 
tiate the  work  into  several  sub-divisions  with  smaller  groups. 
The  work,  too,  may  be  so  arranged  as  to  permit  students  here 
and  there  throughout  the  course  to  supplement  it  with  related 
study  selected  from  other  courses.  The  distinguishing  feature  of 
the  kind  of  organization  that  we  are  now  discussing  is  its 
continuity  for  the  individual  student. 

In  general  the  type  of  person  for  whom  such  courses  may  be 
regarded  as  being  primarily  planned  is  the  young  fellow  who  has 
recently  entered  into  industry  and  who  has  not  yet  found  his 
exact  place — the  high-grade  apprentice  boy  perhaps,  who  does 
not  yet  know  into  which  department  of  his  trade  he  will  later 
go — but  who  is  nevertheless  ambitious  to  make  the  most  of  his 
opportunities.  He  represents  a  most  important  group  of  men, 
and  one  that  merits  the  most  careful  consideration  in  planning 
the  organization  of  evening  schools. 

Time  is  absolutely  essential  for  producing  certain  kinds  of 
very  valuable  results.  For  such  results  courses  that  have 
continuity  are  important. 

Short-unit  courses  occupy  quite  another  field.  In  every  large 
industrial  community  it  will  be  found  that  there  are  many 
workers  who  have  come  to  realize  the  need  of  taking  only  the 
immediate  step  in  front  of  them  and  who  would  be  discouraged 
by  anything  that  appeared  to  them  remote  or  not  of  present  use. 
Such  workers  may  be  most  effectively  appealed  to  by  short 
courses  that  deal  exclusively  with  the  work  of  the  moment,  or 
that  lead  directly  to  some  practical  task  in  advance  but  neverthe- 
less not  far  away. 

In  extending  industrial  education  into  new  fields,  in  trying 
to  make  evening  schools  reach  new  groups  of  workers,  or  in 
other  words  in  tilling  new  soil,  these  short-unit  courses  are  most 
Valuable. 

They  are  valuable,  too,  in  another  way :  namely,  in  forcing 
teachers  and  administrators  to  study  the  subject  matter  of  their 
courses  until  they  eliminate  every  last  detail  that  is  non-essential, 
and  that  does  not  have  a  maximum  of  practical  usefulness.  They 
thus  force  teachers  to  enrich  their  instruction,  to  make  it  alive, 
and  to  bring  it  close  to  earth. 

The  short-unit  courses,  furthermore,  permit  a  greater  flexi- 


136  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

bility  than  is  possible  when  the  instruction  is  organized  over  ex- 
tended periods  of  time.  They  permit  intimate  study  of  individual 
needs,  and  the  selection  from  a  variety  of  topics  of  the  particular 
combination  of  short-unit  subjects  that  will  exactly  meet  each  stu- 
dent's individual  requirements. 

The  typical  man  for  whom  we  may  say,  perhaps,  that  such 
courses  are  most  helpful,  is  the  mature  worker  whose  occupation 
is  more  or  less  thoroughly  established,  whose  vision  of  his  own 
needs  is  somewhat  limited,  whose  mind  is  less  flexible  than  that 
of  the  young  man  described  before,  but  who  nevertheless  feels 
the  need  of  definite  practical  instruction  to  help  him  at  some 
point  in  his  regular  work.  This  type  of  man  represents  a  large 
percentage  of  all  industrial  workers.  He  should  not  be  over- 
looked, even  though  at  times  it  is  found  difficult  to  effectively 
reach  him. 

If  I  have  accurately  analyzed  these  two  types  of  courses,  the 
long-term  and  the  short-term  courses,  we  shall  find  that  as 
teachers  gain  experience  in  evening  school  teaching  and  learn  the 
industrial  needs  of  their  communities  more  accurately,  and  also 
as  the  workers  themselves  learn  to  know  what  the  school  can  do 
for  them  and  acquire  growing  faith  in  its  ability  to  serve  them 
well,  gradually  short  courses  will  tend  to  change  into  longer 
courses.  Persons  who  have  not  been  students  before  will 
gradually  become  students ;  more  and  more  workers  in  the  com- 
munity acquire  the  "study  habit"  and  the  evening  habit,  and  more 
will  come  to  appreciate  the  value  of  continuity  in  school  courses. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  school  organization  is  alive  to  its 
opportunities,  new  fields  will  be  found  opened  up  in  which  new 
short-term  courses  may  be  started.  This,  of  course,  will  not 
always  or  necessarily  be  the  case,  but  the  tendency,  I  believe  will 
be  steadily  in  this  direction. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  third  type,  the  composite  courses, 
either  trade  or  technical,  which  include  a  group  of  related  sub- 
jects extending  over  several  years  and  covering  a  wider  field  than 
either  of  the  two  preceding  types  of  courses.  This  type  of  course 
may  be  regarded  as  being  planned  for  a  group  of  individuals  who 
because  of  their  superior  earnestness  and  ambition  and  apprecia- 
tion of  their  needs  are  prepared  for  a  more  thorough  training 
than  would  otherwise  be  practical. 

In  a  number  of  schools  that  have  been  in  the  field  for  a  long 
time,  and  whose  experience  therefore  is  significant,  there  has 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  137 

been  a  distant  tendency  of  courses  of  this  type  to  develop.  Ex- 
perience shows  that  industries  are  constantly  changing  and  that 
men  do  not  always  follow  the  narrow  path  that  they  mark  out 
for  themselves.  Often  it  happens  that  persons  who  think  they 
know  exactly  what  their  future  work  will  be,  find  themselves,  a 
few  years  later,  in  some  related  field.  For  such  persons,  there- 
fore, breadth  of  industrial  training  is  quite  as  important  as  depth 
of  training;  and  one  of  the  most  valuable  things  that  practical 
education  can  do  is  to  cultivate  the  versatility  and  adaptability 
that  new  conditions  and  new  opportunities  require.  The  com- 
posite technical  or  trade  courses,  because  of  their  length  and  the 
variety  of  subjects  that  they  include  may  accomplish  this  more 
fully  and  satisfactorily  than  courses  organized  in  other  ways. 
They,  therefore,  have  an  important  place,  and  it  would  be  a  mis- 
take to  try  to  substitute  other  types  of  evening  instruction  for 
them. 


VOCATIONAL  TRAINING  IN 
CHICAGO  SCHOOLS1 

Before  we  accept  the  argument  for  a  dual  board  of  control 
for  vocational  education  we  should  find  out  what  the  schools  are 
actually  doing  that  warrants  the  charge  that  they  are  failing  to 
provide  practical  education.  Chicago  can  show  full-fledged  voca- 
tional schools,  industrial  and  technical  courses,  and  well-equipped 
organization  for  the  practical  training  of  youth  in  the  regular 
routine  of  high  and  grammar  schools.  The  cosmopolitan  high 
school,  one  in  which  cooking  and  blacksmithing  are  given  in  the 
same  building  with  Greek  and  art,  is  not  merely  a  possibility  but 
a  working  actuality  in  this  city.  A  brief  summary  of  conditions 
will  convince  anyone  that  within  the  last  half-dozen  years  Chi- 
cago has  been  rapidly  spreading  educational  advantages  to  all 
classes  of  people.  All  of  this  is  being  done  under  the  manage- 
ment of  a  single  or  unit  board  of  education. 

In  the  first  place,  the  administration  has  perfected  an  organi- 
zation to  manage  work  for  vocational  and  industrial  education. 
One  district  superintendent  gives  his  entire  time  to  the  problem 

!By  John  T.  McManus,  Chicago  Normal  College.  School  Review.  23:145- 
58.  March,  1915. 


138  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

of  connecting  up  the  schools  with  industrial  needs  of  the  city. 
Then  there  are  two  supervising  officers  for  vocational  and  techni- 
cal courses  in  the  high  schools,  both  appointed  within  the  last 
year  or  two.  In  addition  to  these  persons  there  is  a  supervisor 
of  household  arts  and  sciences  for  the  schools  and  a  supervisor 
of  industrial  work  in  the  grades. 

In  the  second  place,  the  advocates  of  the  dual  system  of  con- 
trol have  argued  that  the  teachers  now  in  the  schools  are  aca- 
demic and  not  practical  enough  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  industrial 
education  of  children.  They  cite  the  passing  of  the  old  manual- 
training  school,  which  owed  its  failure  partly  to  the  theoretical 
and  academic  teachers  who  took  charge  of  it.  Whether  this  bit 
of  history  be  true  or  not  as  regards  manual-training  schools,  the 
present  vocational  schools  of  Chicago  are  safe  from  that  danger 
because  they  have  practical  teachers  to  handle  the  work  in  indus- 
tries and  vocations.  The  following  regulations  make  clear  the 
practice  in  the  city  schools.  On  October  19,  1910,  the  superin- 
tendent of  schools  reports  that 

the  work  of  giving  technical  instruction  in  the  evening  schools  to  young  men 
and  women  engaged  in  the  industries  has  been  greatly  handicapped  for 
want  of  teachers  who  have  had  a  trade  experience  necessary  to  equip  them 
for  giving  the  proper  kind  of  instruction.  Teachers  with  good  technical- 
school  training,  but  without  experience  in  the  industries,  may  be  had,  but 
such  are  not  competent  to  do  the  work  required  because  of  the  lack  of 
actual  trade  experience.  The  right  kind  of  teachers  is  hard  to  find,  and  if 
the  superintendent  is  given  authority  to  employ  such  persons  when  found, 
their  services  may  be  made  available  at  once  in  the  evening  schools.  The 
superintendent,  therefore,  recommends  that  section  118  of  the  Rules  of  the 
Board  be  suspended,  and  that  authority  be  granted  to  the  superintendent  of 
schools  to  issue  temporary  certificates  to  graduates  of  technical  schools  of 
good  standing  who  have  had  the  necessary  experience  in  the  trades  and  to 
employ  them  as  teachers  in  the  evening  schools,  subject  to  the  approval 
pf  the  committee  and  of  the  Board,  such  certificates  to  expire  at  the  end  of 
the  school  year.  The  superintendent  requests  emergency  authority  to  act 
at  once  on  this  matter. 

This  request  was  granted.1     On  January  8,  1913, 

the  superintendent  recommends  that  authority  be  granted  to  the  superin- 
tendent of  schools  to  issue  when  necessary  temporary  certificates  to  men 
and  women  with  the  expert  experience  that  equips  them  to  give  practical 
instruction  in  their  trades,  such  certificates  to  expire  at  the  end  of  the 
school  year;  to  assign  said  teachers  in  the  day  school,  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Board;  and  to  place  said  teachers  on  the  regular  schedule  for 

*  Proceedings  of  Board,  1910-11,  p.  242. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  139 

technical  teachers  in  the  high  school  if  the  assignment  be  a  high  school,  and 
on  the  regular  schedule  for  manual-training  or  household  arts  teachers  in 
the  elementary  school,  if  the  assignment  be  to  an  elementary  school.1 

At  the  present  time,  in  the  high  schools,  night  schools,  and 
elementary  schools,  there  are  many  men  and  women  teaching  who 
have  had  the  most  complete  and  successful  trade  exprience  in  the 
world  of  industry.  A  list  of  a  few  of  the  schools  and  the  courses 
where  teachers  of  this  type  are  employed  will  refute  the  argu- 
ments of  the  advocates  of  dual  control  that  the  schools  cannot 
get  "practical"  teachers  to  do  the  work  required  and  demanded 
by  the  business  world. 

In  eight  of  the  high  schools  of  the  city  there  are  full  four- 
year  courses  in  technical  instruction  now  in  operation.  The 
teachers  in  these  schools  are  in  the  majority  of  cases  "practical" 
men,  the  others  being  school  men  with  college  training  in  tech- 
nical subjects  but  no  trade  experience. 
Crane  Technical  High  School 

Woodwork 3  practical  men  (from  the  trades) 

Woodwork 5  college-trained  men  (no  trade  experience) 

Foundry 2  practical  men 

Forge 2  practical  men 

Machine  shop 2  practical  men 

Electrical i  practical  man 

Electrical i  with  some  practical  experience 

Lane  Technical  High  School 

Woodwork 2  practical  men 

Woodwork 5  college-trained  men 

Foundry i  practical  man 

Forge 2  practical  men 

Machine  shop 3  practical  men 

Electrical i  practical  man 

Electrical i  college-trained  man 

Lake  Technical  High  School 

Woodwork 2  practical  men 

Woodwork i  college-trained   man 

Foundry i  practical  man 

Forge i  mechanic 

Machine  shop i   practical  man 

Bowen  High  School  has  all  practical  men  in  shop  and  foundry. 

Schurz  High   School  has  three  practical   men   and   one  man  without   trade 

experience  in  its  shops. 

Senn  High  School  has  two  practical  men  and  three  college  mechanics. 

Hyde  Park  High  School  has  all  practical  men  in  its  shops. 
Harrison  Technical  High  School  has  all  practical  men  in  shop  and  foundry. 

1  Proceedings  of  Board,  1912-13,  p.  659. 


i4o  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

The  above  list  of  eight  high  schools  does  not  contain  all  of  the 
men  in  technical  work  now  employed  in  the  various  schools  of 
the  city,  but  it  gives  an  idea  of  the  extent  to  which  men  with 
trade  experience  have  been  brought  into  the  work  of  teaching. 

In  the  commercial  courses  and  the  courses  for  girls  there 
exists  the  same  proportion  of  teachers  with  actual  commercial 
and  trade  experience  as  shown  in  the  technical  courses.1  Work 
in  accounting  and  stenography  and  office  preparation  is  carried  on 
by  students  under  teachers  directly  from  offices  and  commercial 
employments.  Women  with  experience  as  milliners,  dressmakers, 
managers  of  dining-rooms,  and  shop  workers  are  in  many  cases 
in  charge  of  classes  in  the  Flower  Technical  School  for  girls  and 
other  high  schools  of  the  city. 

The  night-school  classes  are  taught  in  a  majority  of  cases  by 
men  and  women  with  trade  experience.  Such  courses  as  sewing, 
and  dressmaking,  millinery,  bookkeeping,  stenography,  chemistry, 
electricity,  mechanical  drawing,  freehand  drawing,  printing,  and 
agriculture  are  in  the  hands  of  teachers  who  know  their  jobs  by 
actual  experience. 

There  is  absolutely  no  excuse,  so  far  as  getting  practical  trade 
people  to  teach,  for  a  dual  control  of  our  schools.  Chicago  can 
show  this  class  of  teachers  in  all  of  her  high  schools.  Of  course 
the  difficulty  of  getting  a  man  or  woman  experienced  in  the  in- 
dustries and  at  the  same  time  a  competent  instructor  of  boys  and 
girls  is  felt  now,  but  would  in  no  way  be  lessened  by  a  dual  sys- 
tem. It  is  recognized  in  the  schools  now,  where  such  persons 
have  been  taken  in  from  the  trades,  that  not  all  of  them  will  ever 
become  first-class  teachers,  but  the  vast  majority  of  them  soon 
learn  through  association  with  the  regular  academic  teachers  how 
to  do  the  work.  It  is  this  sort  of  association  between  the  two 
types  of  teachers  that  will  make  possible  the  success  of  the  work 
of  each  class,  and  a  dual  system  would  therefore  defeat  the  end 
of  good  teaching. 

If  we  turn  now  to  the  courses  offered  in  the  city  schools  for 
vocational  and  industrial  training,  we  are  struck  by  the  rapidity 
with  which  this  work  has  been  taken  over  into  the  regular  school 
curriculum  and  made  an  organic  part  of  the  schools.  People  who 
wish  to  establish  vocational  schools,  in  addition  to  the  schools 

1  Of  the  37  teachers  of  stenography,  bookkeeping,  commercial  law,  and 
commercial  geography  who  entered  the  day  schools  during  the  past  year,  26 
came  direct  from  the  business  world;  the  others  had  been  teachers  of  com- 
mercial subjects  in  other  schools.  In  the  commercial  department  of  the 
evening  schools,  40  teachers  with  practical  experience  were  added. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  141 

already  in  operation,  must  be  blind  to  the  fact  that  such  schools 
are  already  working  very  efficiently  now  under  the  unit  manage- 
ment. Notice  the  various  branches  now  in  operation : 

1.  Industrial  centers  in  20  elementary  schools.    (There  would 
have  been  46  of  this  type  of  school  this  year  if  money  had  been 
available.)     In  these  schools  children  in  the  upper  grades — the 
sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth — are   furnished  opportunity  to   enter 
upon  vocational  training. 

2.  Prevocational  courses  in  the  technical  high  schools.    Here 
boys  and  girls  over-age  but  behind  in  school  work  are  instructed 
in  vocations. 

3.  Two-year  vocational  courses  in  all  of  the  22  high  schools 
of  the  city.     These  courses  are  eleven  in  number  as  follows : 
accounting,  shorthand,  mechanical  drawing,  designing,  carpentry, 
pattern-making,  machine  shop,  electricity,  household  arts,  print- 
ing, horticulture.    Two  or  more  of  these  courses  are  given  in  all 
the  schools  and  most  of  them  give  practically  all  such  courses. 

4.  Four-year  vocational  courses  as  follows :  commercial,  office 
preparatory,  technical,  general  trades,  household  arts,  arts,  and 
architecture.     In  addition  to  the  regular  technical  high  schools, 
these  courses   are  given   in  most  of   the    regular  high   schools 
where   the    general,    the    science,    and    the    normal    preparatory 
courses  are  given. 

5.  Apprenticeship  courses  in  several  industries :  carpenters, 
electrical  workers,  plumbers,  machinists,  sheet-metal  workers. 

6.  Two-year  college  course  for  technical  education  and  engi- 
neering. 

7.  Evening  school  courses  in  more  than  twenty  vocational 
subj  ects. 

A  careful  study  of  the  following  items  will  show  something 
of  the  status  of  vocational  education  in  Chicago : 

I.  Industrial  centers:  On  May  3,  1911,  "the  superintendent 
of  schools  reports  that  a  division  should  be  made  in  the  elemen- 
tary course  of  study  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  grade  for  the 
purpose  of  providing  an  industrial  and  a  general  course  for  pu- 
pils, each  of  which  will  meet  the  requirements  of  graduation  and 
entrance  to  high  school."1 

Again  on  January  24,  1912,  the  superintendent  returns  to  this 
subject  and  reports  that 

in  accordance  with  this  authority,  the  superintendent,  after  conference  with 
members  of  the  education  department,  arranged  for  two  courses  of  study, 


142  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

and  the  new  division — the  industrial  course — was  printed  with  the  general 
course  of  study,  and  distributed  to  all  of  the  schools  before  the  opening  of 
September,  1911,  so  that  teachers  and  principals  might  be  familiar  with  the 
tentative  plan  proposed.  As  this  is  the  first  arrangement  of  a  course  of 
study  along  these  lines,  it  has  been  necessary  to  give  consideration  to  all 
the  details,  and  up  to  the  present  time  it  has  not  been  possible  to  determine 
whether  there  will  be  money  available  during  this  year  for  the  two  extra 
teachers  of  industrial  and  vocational  subjects  who  will  be  required  in  each 
school  in  which  the  new  division  of  the  course  is  introduced.  As  it  now 
appears  that  enough  money  will  be  available  to  provide  these  teachers,  and 
as  a  number  of  requests  have  been  received  from  principals  of  schools  like 
the  Jackson  and  Von  Humboldt,  situated  in  congested  districts,  for  the  in- 
troduction of  a  course  which  will  keep  pupils  longer  in  school  and  fit  them 
better  for  their  vocations,  the  superintendent  recommends  that  authority  be 
given  to  introduce  the  new  course  at  the  beginning  of  the  new  semester,  and 
to  assign  the  two  additional  teachers  at  each  school  selected  by  the  superin- 
tendent for  the  introduction  of  the  course.2 

From  letters  of  principals  and  teachers  in  these  schools  we 
give  the  following  items  : 

(i)  "In  two  years  sincfe  opening  center,  membership  in  the  eighth  grade 
is  86.9,  while  for  two  previous  years  it  was  73.1."  (2)  "While  pupils 
devote  only  half  as  much  time  to  academic  subjects  as  formerly,  yet  they 
cover  the  grade  work  and  the  results  are  creditable."  (3)  "We  have  better 
attendance  since  opening,  and  children  have  less  desire  to  go  to  work."  (4) 
"Attendance  in  these  grades  is  larger  and  more  regular  than  ever  before." 
(5)  "Pupils  over  fourteen  remain.  Mending  in  the  homes  is  attended  to 
and  cooking  and  housekeeping  are  done  better.  Many  pupils  go  to  Flower 
and  Lake  Technical  schools."  (6)  "Membership  is  larger  than  ever  in  the 
sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  grades.  The  children  are  happy  in  their  work. 
The  joy  of  doing  things  with  their  own  hands  gives  them  encouragement 
that  they,  too,  are  becoming  a  vital  part  of  the  great  world  about  them." 
(7)  "Attendance  1913  (before  opening),  97.16;  in  1914  (first  year),  97.72; 
graduates  1913  were  34,  in  1914,  47."  (8)  "This  work  promotes  attend- 
ance and  pupils  will  not  miss  a  cooking,  sewing,  or  manual-training  class." 

(9)  "An  unusual  number  of  girls  have  gone  to  work  in  private  families." 

(10)  "Increased  attendance — Keeps  older  boys  in  school."     (n)  A  decided 
.decrease  in  the  number  of  work  certificates  issued  to  pupils  in  grades  hav- 
ing this  work."     (12)    "Improved  attendance."     (13)   "Fewer  boys   ask  for 
work  certificates   and  more   boys   over  fourteen   in  grade   than  in  previous 
years.'*      (14)    "This    industrial    work    has    materially    affected    our   attend* 
ance.      Many   more   pupils    now   remain   in    school   until   they    complete   the 
elementary   course.      In    1913,    before   opening    this     industrial     center,     63 
pupils  were  accredited  to  the  high  schools.     During   1914  we  graduated  97 
pupils,  a  gain  of  54  per  cent  in  number  of  pupils  completing  the  grammar 
grades." 

1  Proceedings  of  Board,  1910-11,  pp.  873-74. 

2  Proceedings  of  Board,  1911-12,  pp.  523-24. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  143 

2.     Prevocational  figures: 

Crane No  report 

Flower Cooking  and  sewing 76 

Harrison Various  lines    35 

Lake No  report 

Lane Woodworking  48 

Forge  60 

Machine  shop  24 

Printing  60 

Foundry  20 

Total  prevocational  reported 323 

For  the  two-year  vocational,  the  four-year  vocational,  the 
two-year  college  courses,  see  the  following  tabulation  of  the  high 
school  work  of  the  city.  This  tabulation  (Table  I)  was  compiled 
from  reports  of  the  principals  made  in  January,  1915,  and  shows 
the  relative  numbers  taking  the  courses  offered  in  the  high 
schools.  If  one  remembers  that  the  two  year  vocational  course 
was  opened  in  1910  he  may  appreciate  the  rapidity  with  which  it 
has  grown.  This  growth  has  not  been  at  the  expense  of  the 
general  course,  but  indicates  an  increased  number  of  boys  and 
girls  attending  high  school. 

A  summary  of  the  commercial  work  being  done  in  the  two- 
year  courses  of  the  high  schools  of  Chicago  made  in  November, 
1914,  gives  the  following  results  :a 

Business   English  studied  by 5>352 

Stenography  studied  by 4>i95 

Bookkeeping   studied   by 3*045 

making  a  total  of  12,592  enrollments  in  the  classes  of  the  high  schools  in  the 
two-year  studies  fitting  for  offices  and  clerical  work  in  the  city. 

Apprentice  classes  are  conducted  in  the  schools  at  the  present 
time  and  have  enrolled  in  the  different  lines  of  work: 

Carpenters    236 

Plumbers    1 74 

Electrical   workers    83 

Machinists   24 

Sheet-metal  workers  (until  recently) 30 

Total  in  attendance , 547 

Classes  are  to  be  opened  at  an  early  date  for  printers,  bakers, 
and  druggists.  Most  of  this  work  can  be  carried  on  and  is  being 

1  This  summary  includes  Morgan  Park  High  School. 


144 


SELECTED     ARTICLES 


carried  on  with  the  facilities  already  at  hand  with  perfect  ease 
and  effectiveness.  The  arguments  for  a  dual  system  that  would 
double  the  school  plants  because  there  were  no  opportunities  for 
the  industrial  workers  in  the  present  school  organization  have  no 
validity  so  far  as  the  apprenticeship  courses  are  concerned,  be- 
cause they  have  been  accommodated  from  the  first  and  can  con- 
tinue to  utilize  the  present  school  plant  almost  indefinitely.1 

In  the  two-year  college  engineering  course  the  following  work 
is  given.  This  work  has  been  given  in  two  of  the  high  schools  of 
the  city  and  has  been  successfully  carried  on.  First  year :  mathe- 
matics, science,  English,  gymnasium  are  required,  while  modern 
language,  shop,  science,  design  are  elective.  Second  year :  mathe- 
matics, science,  English,  gymnasium  are  required,  and  shop, 
science,  engineering,  modern  language  are  elective. 

A  summary  of  evening  school  attendance  for  November  5, 
1914,  shows  the  following  work  and  attendance : 
Household  courses:  Women 

High-school  sewing  and  dressmaking 987 

Elementary  sewing 680 

Millinery    276 

Cooking,  high  school    177 

Cooking,    elementary    335 

Total  household  courses 

Men 

Bookkeeping 

Stenography    

Special  business  course 

Commercial  law   

Total  commercial  courses. 
Industrial  subjects: 

Chemistry    

Electricity    

Woodworking   

Pattern-making    

Machine  shop    305 

Foundry    55 

Forge     201 


767 
862 
213 


1 88 

744 

943 

84 


Women 

321 

i,323 

58 

7 


Total 
987 
680 
276 
177 
335 

Total 

1,085 

2,185 

271 

98 


2,446 


3,639 


Mechanical  drawing   1,247 

Freehand  drawing   95 

Printing    123 

Agriculture    36 

Total  industrial  subjects 

Total  household,  commercial,  and  industrial. 


12 
22 


206 
744 
984 

84 
305 

55 

201 
1,259 

117 
123 

40 


4,041 


10,126 

1  An  advisory  board  consisting  of  a  member  of  the  union  concerned,  a 
member  of  the  employes'  association,  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion plans  the  course  and  conduct  of  the  work. 
Commercial  classes: 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  145 

Other  classes: 

English,  for  foreigners 8,809  2,650  11,459 

Elementary    grade    work 2,886  994  3,880 

Regular  high-school   subjects 1,704  814  2,518 

Physical  education   264  413  677 

Classes   for   deaf 2  9  n 


Total    other    classes i8,54S 

Grand  total,  less  295  counted  twice 28,376 

Grand  total  for  first  quarter  last  year 21,839 

Evening  schools  have  been  easily  managed  by  the  single  or 
unit  system  of  control  and  have  been  extended  as  rapidly  as 
money  was  available  for  them.  A  dual  control  would  simply  add 
to  the  expense  of  the  taxpayer  by  requiring  a  duplication  of 
building  and  apparatus  for  the  evening  schools  where  now  there 
is  sufficient  of  both  in  the  regular  schools. 

It  is  evident  from  the  growth  of  vocational  and  industrial 
courses  in  the  schools  of  Chicago  that  what  is  needed  is  more 
money  to  foster  the  work  already  begun  and  not  an  entirely  new 
set  of  schools. 


PROBLEMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION 
UNDER  PUBLIC  ADMINISTRATION1 

However  much  one  may  wish  to  avoid  the  indelicate  refer- 
ence to  the  rope  in  the  house  of  the  hangman  he  is  forced  to  do 
so  unless  he  would  deliberately  fail  to  discuss  the  subject  of  con- 
trol in  industrial  education.  The  question  is  fundamental  in  any 
discussion  of  principles  and  policies  regarding  industrial  edu- 
cation. The  conditions  of  efficient  control  must  be  set  up  by  some 
agency,  whether  unit  or  dual,  or  by  a  combination  of  both. 

I  have  been  impressed  with  the  strength  of  position  of  each 
side  in  the  classic  controversy  now  occurring.  My  own  expe- 
rience leads  me  to  believe  that  an  effective  industrial  school  can- 
not be  organized,  established,  and  placed  upon  a  going  basis  with- 
out the  degree  of  freedom  best  in  promise  under  the  system  of 
dual  control.  I  am  also  convinced  that  there  is  considerable 
danger  in  building  up  two  educational  authorities  such  as  the 

1  By  Frank  V.  Thompson,  Assistant  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Boston, 
Mass.  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education.  Proceed- 
ings. 1916:337-46. 


146  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

dual  system  threatens;  in  creating  divisive  influences  that  would 
threaten  to  separate  educational  forces  into  two  unco-operative, 
competing,  and  hostile  camps.  The  adherents  of  the  dual  system 
have  in  mind  the  success  of  a  single  type  of  school;  the  advo- 
cates of  the  unit  system,  the  permanent  good  of  the  educational 
system.  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  a  compromise  plan 
might  be  possible,  namely,  the  adoption  of  a  temporary  dual 
system  during  the  period  of  foundation,  organization,  and  experi- 
mentation; afterwards,  at  a  stated  time,  five  years  as  a  sugges- 
tion, turn  the  going  concern  over  to  the  major  forces  vested  with 
general  control  of  educational  affairs.  In  Boston,  there  has  been 
much  suggestive  precedent  for  this  proposal,  not  in  the  names 
unit  and  dual,  but  in  procedure  similar  to  the  idea  contained  in 
plans  termed  unit  and  dual.  Many  present  endeavors  in  our 
schools  were  originated  under  private  philanthropic,  or  public- 
spirited  control.  This  was  true  with  respect  to  the  kindergarten, 
sewing  and  cooking,  and  manual  training.  The  Trade  School 
for  Girls  was  thus  founded  and  operated  for  some  years;  voca- 
tional guidance  and  salesmanship  are  similar  instances.  Many 
other  cities  very  likely  can  point  to  similar  occurrences.  The  his- 
tory of  the  development  of  industrial  education,  administered  by 
the  state  educational  authorities  of  Massachusetts,  shows  some 
points  of  similarity  to  the  experience  of  Boston.  Originally  when 
the  active  promotion  of  industrial  education  was  in  progress  and 
when  the  fundamental  basis  for  procedure  was  being  studied 
there  was  established  an  independent  industrial  educational  com- 
mission; subsequently  the  administration  of  industrial  education 
was  placed  under  the  charge  of  the  (reorganized)  State  Board 
of  Education.  The  influence  and  contribution  of  the  original 
commission  were  perpetuated  both  in  the  procedure  transmitted 
and  in  the  laws  incorporated  into  the  statutes  relating  to  indus- 
trial education,  which  provided  that  approved  schools  be  inde- 
pendent schools. 

The  factor  of  independence  is  the  essential  condition,  as  I 
conceive  it,  of  effective  vocational  industrial  schools.  There  is 
possible  no  easy  transition  from  the  general  school  as  now  main- 
tained or  from  the  technical  high  school  to  a  type  of  effective 
industrial  school.  Many  communities  •  are  still  unconvinced  of 
the  truth  of  this  proposition  and  are  either  trying  to  effect  the 
impossible  end  or  are  proposing  to  make  the  attempt.  Some  of 
those  who  have  tried  and  failed  have  concluded  that  the  trouble 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  147 

is  in  the  project  itself  and  have  not  seen  that  the  difficulty  was 
merely  in  the  method  used.  There  is  no  type  of  school  which  is 
so  dependent  upon  favoring  conditions  as  the  industrial  school. 
Conditions  must  be  favorable  regarding  methods  of  instruction, 
qualifications  of  teachers,  size  of  classes,  furnishings  and  equip- 
ment, location  of  buildings,  amount  of  floor  space  for  pupils, 
quality  and  quantity  of  material.  A  defect  in  any  one  of  the 
above  may  easily  render  abortive  the  proper  functioning  of  the 
other  factors.  The  figurative  illustration  of  the  chain  with  the 
weak  link  becomes  literal  with  respect  to  the  operation  of  the 
industrial  school.  Modern  productive  plants  show  the  same 
situation — each  worker  on  the  complicated  product  must  per- 
form his  operation  correctly  or  else  the  finished  product  is  worth- 
less ;  in  fact,  the  product  becomes  worthless  at  the  point  of  the 
first  mistake  because  the  succeeding  operations  are  wholly  con- 
ditioned upon  the  accuracy  of  the  former  operations.  It  is  not 
strange,  consequently,  that  an  effective  industrial  school  should 
show  the  same  sensitiveness  to  conditions  which  characterize  the 
highly  organized  industries  for  which  it  is  preparing  young  per- 
sons to  enter.  Our  general  schools  are  not  adjusted  to  measure- 
ments of  millimeter  exactness;  but  they  are  adjusted  to  varia- 
tions ,of  far  more  generous  margins.  The  point  of  view  of 
the  general  school  through  precedent,  circumstance  and  super- 
imposed restrictions  shows  of  necessity  compromise,  approxima- 
tion and  variable  standards.  The  general  school  has  justly  won 
commendation  for  its  achievements  in  view  of  hampering  con- 
ditions. Its  function  has  been  general  and  it  has  been  generally 
successful.  The  general  school  cannot,  however,  "by  taking 
thought,  add  a  cubit  to  its  height."  It  cannot  assume  a  new, 
technical  and  highly  specialized  function  and  be  successful,  for 
it  lacks  the  proper  point  of  view,  the  necessary  resources  and  an 
adequate  background.  There  are  impractical  idealists  who  believe 
that  we  can  over  night  raise  a  million  men  who  can  protect  our 
liberties  against  the  onslaughts  of  technically  trained  and  well 
disciplined  troops  of  possible  aggressors;  but  the  wisdom  and 
judgment  of  our  experts  on  these  matters  indicate  that  the  plan 
of  the  idealist  is  futile,  that  we  must  technically  train  and  equip 
our  defenders  by  special  methods  and  under  the  direction  of 
skilled  and  experienced  instructors.  Our  general  schools  in  many 
sections  of  the  country  are  playing  the  part  of  the  generous 
and  patriotic  volunteer  in  industrial  education,  but  the  task, 


148  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

again,  is  too  technical  and  specialized  for  their  recognizably  good 
intentions. 

Let  us  proceed  to  discuss  the  positive  and  constructive  side 
of  the  question.  How  may  we  effectively  meet  some  of  the 
problems  of  industrial  education?  First,  there  is  the  problem  of 
teachers.  Proper  teachers  at  present  do  not  exist  so  we  must 
undertake  to  create  them.  The  conclusion  that  suitable  teachers 
for  industrial  schools  are  at  present  non-existent  is  based  upon 
certain  assumptions  regarding  the  qualifications  of  teachers  in 
industrial  schools.  The  general  principles  underlying  these 
assumptions  were  well  stated  at  the  seventh  annual  meeting 
(Grand  Rapids)  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Industrial  Education.  Teachers  in  industrial  schools  must  pos- 
sess primarily  a  generous  background  of  industrial  experience. 
Expertness  in  the  art  of  teaching  is  likewise  desirable,  but  if  we 
must  sacrifice,  temporarily,  one  or  the  other  the  second  quali- 
fication is  the  less  important.  If  faced  with  the  dilemma  it  is 
more  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  worker  in  industry  can  im- 
part the  knowledge  of  his  craft,  than  that  the  teacher  who  knows 
how  to  teach  them  can  teach  what  he  does  not  know.  The  ac- 
quisition of  the  art  of  teaching  is  far  easier  than  the  knowledge 
of  what  to  teach.  We  proceed  upon  this  same  assumption  with 
regard  to  teachers  in  our  regular  schools.  An  analysis  of  the 
amount  of  time  devoted  to  what  to  teach  and  how  to  teach  will 
show  a  like  relative  proportion  of  knowledge  of  subject  matter 
and  technique  in  the  art  of  teaching.  The  normal  school  student 
has  devoted  already  twelve  or  more  years  to  the  study  of  what 
to  teach  before  he  spends  his  two  or  more  years  in  the  study  of 
how  to  teach.  The  long  preliminary  period  constitutes  for  the 
normal  school  student  a  proper  prevocational  or  experience  back- 
ground for  teaching  in  the  regular  schools,  but  not  so  for  the 
teachers  in  the  industrial  school,  since  the  former  has  in  view 
instruction  in  the  regular  school,  but  the  latter  must  train  young 
people  for  a  wholly  different  environment. 

If  we  could  imagine  a  situation  where  a  candidate  for  teach- 
ing in  the  regular  schools  had  spent  his  preparatory  years  in 
industry  and  then  by  means  of  a  short  period  of  training  in  the 
technique  of  teaching  assume  the  function  of  teacher  in  a  regular 
school,  we  should  have  a  condition  no  less  absurd  than  the 
attempt  to  convert  a  regular  teacher  into  an  industrial  teacher 
by  means  of  a  short  term  experience  in  industry.  We  must  apply 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  149 

the  same  logic  to  the  industrial  school  that  we  apply  to  the  regu- 
lar school.  The  best  background  for  each  kind  of  teacher  is 
found  in  the  appropriate  experiences  which  each  will  find  in  his 
own  field — the  regular  teacher  in  the  domain  of  the  regular 
school;  the  industrial  teacher  in  organized  and  competitive  in- 
dustry. We  must  go  to  industry  consequently  for  our  indus- 
trial teachers.  Industry  will  give  the  proper  experience  and 
point  of  view.  But  we  must  add  to  the  fundamental  background 
technique  in  the  art  of  teaching.  The  effective  industrial  teacher 
ought  to  know  two  trades,  the  trade  which  he  is  to  teach,  and 
the  trade  of  teaching  that  which  he  knows. 

There  do  not  exist  today,  obviously,  the  resources  or  insti- 
tutions, except  in  isolated  instances,  for  training  persons  skilled 
in  trades  in  the  art  of  teaching.  Nor  can  we  meet  the  problem 
by  simply  adding  industrial  training  courses  in  our  already  estab- 
lished normal  schools.  The  skilled  worker  whom  we  wish  for 
our  industrial  teacher  is  not  financially  independent  so  that  he 
can  dispense  with  his  wages  during  the  period  that  a  normal 
training  requires.  What  can  be  done  is  more  difficult  to  define 
than  what  can't  be  done.  The  city  of  Boston  with  the  assistance 
of  the  state  educational  authorities  is  attempting  to  meet  the 
two  conditions  deemed  essential  for  proper  trade  instructions 
by  the  following  plan. 

Regarding  the  qualifications  of  trade  experience,  any  one  of 
three  requirements  is  demanded. 

(a)  Eight  years'  experience  in  industry,  three  years'  appren- 
ticeship or  equivalent  and  one  year  of  foremanship  or 
equivalent — and  academic  accomplishment  that  of  the 
elementary  school  or  equivalent. 

(b)  Five  years'  experience  in  industry,  one  year  of  which 

spent  in  foremanship  or   equivalent  and  academic  ac- 
complishment that  of  the  high  school  or  equivalent. 

(c)  Three  years  in   industry,   one  year  of  which   spent  in 

foremanship   or   equivalent   and   academic   accomplish- 
ment that  of  the  higher  technical  school  or  equivalent. 
No  candidates  to  the  qualifying  examinations   for  positions 
as  teachers  in  industrial  schools  are  admitted  unless  they  shall 
have  successfully  pursued  an  approved  course  of  training  for 
teachers   in  industrial   schools.      Such   a  course  has  been  con- 
ducted during  the  past  two  years  by  the  state  educational  depart- 
ment.   The  course  is  conducted  two  evenings  a  week  for  a  period 


150  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

of  twenty  weeks  by  instructors  representing  both  the  city  and 
the  state.  Instruction  in  the  technique  of  teaching  as  well  as  in 
trade  processes  are  continued  in  the  school  for  teachers  already 
employed.  Thus  both  preparatory  training  and  improvement 
training  are  attempted  in  the  plan  under  operation.  It  is  evident 
that  only  in  improvement  training  can  our  industrial  teachers 
reach  the  stage  of  development  in  the  technique  of  teaching 
which  our  graduates  of  normal  schools  possess  in  the  regular 
schools.  Our  pedagogical  convictions  regarding  all  kinds  of  ef- 
fective teaching  are  leading  us  more  and  more  to  see  the  im- 
portance of  improvement  training  in  all  grades  of  schools;  and 
in  this  matter  our  industrial  schools  may  possess  equal  advan- 
tage with  all  other  types  of  schools. 

It  is  my  conviction  that  city  and  state  administrative  authori- 
ties having  charge  of  industrial  education  may  devote  them- 
selves energetically  and  hopefully  to  the  matter  of  improvement 
training  of  teachers  already  employed  in  industrial  schools. 
Teachers  in  our  regular  schools  are  made  effective  largely  upon 
the  basis  of  experience  in  the  class  room.  Timely  guidance,  sug- 
gestion at  the  time  of  need,  appreciation  of  problems  actually 
encountered  are  essential  elements  in  the  attainment  of  power 
in  teaching  of  whatever  character.  Preliminary  instruction  for 
industrial  teachers  is  necessary,  however,  but  it  is  chiefly  useful 
as  an  eliminating  factor.  The  preliminary  course  will  discover 
the  person  with  aptitudes  and  tastes  for  the  work.  The  pre- 
liminary course,  indeed,  is  largely  prevocational  enabling  indi- 
viduals to  determine  their  fitness  for  the  work.  The  real  voca- 
tional work  of  teaching  is  reached  only  under  the  conditions  of 
actual  performance. 

The  conditions  of  work  to  which  the  industrial  school  are 
sensitive  have  been  enumerated.  The  selection  and  training  of 
teachers,  organization,  floor  space  per  pupil,  materials  and  prod- 
uct, equipment,  methods  of  instruction,  type  of  school,  are  all 
elements  of  vital  importance  in  the  success  of  any  kind  of  indus- 
trial school,  but  the  limits  of  this  paper  do  not  permit  to  each 
topic  the  detailed  discussion  which  has  been  attempted  with  re- 
gard to  the  selection  and  training  of  teachers.  Growing  experi- 
ence is  creating  an  accumulation  of  evidence  and  conclusion  upon 
all  these  important  matters  and  the  administrator  charged  with 
responsibility  for  industrial  education  will  do  well  to  acquaint 
himself  with  the  material  so  rapidly  becoming  available. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  151 

The  question  of  proper  types  of  schools  which  shall  furnish 
industrial  education  has  been  considered  of  prime  importance 
by  the  National  Society  and  rightly  so.  As  a  general  statement 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  cities  of  the  first  rank  in  size  need  all  types 
of  schools,  chiefly  as  a  means  of  experimentation  at  present  to 
see  through  a  fair  competition  of  types  which  kind  should  be 
expanded  or  multiplied  to  meet  major  needs.  The  city  of  Boston 
has  one  or  more  schools  of  the  following  types:  Prevocational 
schools  for  boys  and  girls  of  twelve  years  of  age  and  over — in 
the  elementary  school  stage  of  instruction;  day  trade  schools 
(separate)  for  boys  and  girls  fourteen  years  of  age  and  over; 
continuation  schools — with  prevocational  programs — for  work- 
ing boys  and  girls  between  fourteen  and  sixteen  years  of  age; 
co-operative  industrial  courses,  in  general  high  schools  following 
the  usual  plan  of  alternate  weeks  in  shop  and  school;  evening 
classes  for  men  and  women  regularly  employed  in  industrial 
occupations.  We  have  not  the  type  of  trade  extension  continua- 
tion school  found  in  Wisconsin  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  we 
have  no  adequate  law  under  which  to  operate  the  schools  of  this 
useful  character. 

What  is  our  experience  showing  us  regarding  the  relative 
worth  of  these  different  kinds  of  schools?  Chiefly  that  the 
schools  are  not  competitive  at  all,  but  are  supplementary  to  one 
another.  Even  when  schools  receive  pupils  at  the  same  age  one 
type  will  meet  the  needs  of  crtain  young  people  and  the  other 
type  of  school  is  better  suited  to  boys  and  girls  with  other 
necessities.  The  day  industrial  school  and  the  co-operative  in- 
dustrial courses  may  be  taken  for  contrasted  types  for  brief  con- 
sideration. The  day  industrial  school  has  the  boy  or  girl  wholly 
within  its  control,  both  for  shop  practice  and  for  related  instruc- 
tion; while  the  co-operative  course  connected  with  a  general 
high  school  shares  its  burden  on  equal  terms  with  industry. 
Though  each  of  these  two  types  of  schools  effects  the  same  end 
with  pupils  of  the  same  age  and  capacities  they  are  both  appar- 
ently necessary  for  rendering  adequately  available  opportunities 
for  industrial  education.  Those  who  know  specifically  the  con- 
ditions in  industry  regarding  apprenticeship  or  that  beginning 
stage  which  is  akin  to  it  for  which  there  is  no  recognized  name, 
realize  that  co-operative  relations  between  shop  and  school  are 
difficult  to  establish  under  the  best  of  conditions  and  difficult  to 
administer  when  actually  established.  If  we  are  to  do  something 


152  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

in  the  way  of  industrial  education  without  delay  and  render  it 
available  to  a  considerable  number  of  boys  and  girls  we  cannot 
do  it  solely  on  the  co-operative  method.  Ideally  considered, 
the  co-operative  method  seems  to  be  the  better  plan ;  it  is  cheaper 
in  cost  of  instruction,  less  expensive  in  equipment  and  plant,  and 
pedagogically  more  sound  in  that  the  objective  side  of  the  work 
has  a  basis  which  is  exact  and  not  imitative.  Lacking  all  these 
superior  advantages  the  day  industrial  school  is  at  present  the 
more  useful  type  of  school.  As  apprenticeship  or  something  akin 
to  it  comes  more  and  more  back  into  industry,  the  day  industrial 
school  promises  to  lessen  in  importance  and  the  co-operative 
course  to  gain  in  the  same  ratio.  As  far  as  we  can  see,  however, 
from  indications  at  all  discoverable  the  day  industrial  school 
should  exist  as  a  type ;  at  least,  until  industry  is  radically  differ- 
ent in  character  from  what  it  is  today.  We  have,  perhaps,  over 
emphasized  the  needs  of  industry  in  our  discussions  about  indus- 
trial education.  What  about  the  child  who  wishes  to  enter  in- 
dustry? Suppose  that  industry  did  maintain  an  apprenticeship 
system  appreciably  better  than  that  at  present  obtaining.  Indus- 
try under  competitive  conditions  will  seek  the  individual  most 
naturally  immediately  adaptable  and  will  reject  the  one  who 
shows  initial  difficulty  but  who  may  under  patience  and  sym- 
pathy prove  eventually  efficient.  What  agency  will  deal  with  the 
child  on  the  basis  of  his  own  needs  and  aspirations?  The  child 
has  the  right  to  expect  that  some  agency,  social  or  other,  may 
meet  him  half  way.  If  democracy  of  opportunity  for  the  child 
is  to  exist  in  industrial  vocations  something  akin  to  the  day  in- 
dustrial school  must  be  maintained  as  long  as  present  conditions 
in  industry  persist.  We  may  hope,  however,  that  conditions  in 
industry  respecting  apprenticeship  will  improve  so  that  the  less 
burdensome  type  of  co-operative  school  may  be  substituted,  but 
in  the  meantime  the  door  of  opportunity  for  the  child  must  be 
kept  open  by  means  of  the  social  agency  known  as  the  day  indus- 
trial school. 

A  brief  experience  in  Boston  with  compulsory  continuation 
schools  for  boys  and  girls  between  14  and  16  years  of  age  is 
giving  interesting  information  hitherto  not  realized.  After 
adopting  an  improved  working  certificate  plan  (1913)  we  found 
upon  appraising  results  that  several  formerly  undisputed  assump- 
tions were  not  tenable.  We  found  that  we  had  much  over-esti- 
mated the  number  of  14-16  children  who  are  working;  actually 
only  one-sixth  of  this  group  leave  school  to  go  to  work.  An- 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  153 

other  assumption  to  the  effect  that  children  leave  school  in  larg- 
est number  at  the  age  of  14  proved  untrue.  We  found  that  chil- 
dren leave  in  equal  numbers  at  14,  14^,  15  and  15^.  At  16  the 
greatest  number  leave  school.  The  effect  of  the  compulsory 
(optional  by  cities)  continuation  school  law  upon  employment 
has  been  to  decrease  the  number  but  slightly.  Business  and  in- 
dustry in  our  section  of  the  country  for  the  past  ten  years  have 
been  gradually  adjusting  to  a  higher  age  of  employment.  Child 
labor  legislation  has  been  a  factor  in  this  movement.  There  are 
those  who  predict  that  the  new  minimum  wage  law  will  have  a 
decided  effect  in  reducing  the  number  of  workers  between  14 
and  16. 

The  boys  and  girls  in  our  compulsory  continuation  schools 
number  roughly  about  4,000,  and  come  from  about  1,300  differ- 
ent employers.  They  come  from  every  conceivable  source  of  em- 
ployment, department  stores,  factories,  printing  establishments, 
messenger  offices,  and  elsewhere.  An  analysis  of  the  kind  of 
service  rendered  by  these  boys  and  girls  in  their  place  of  employ- 
ment shows  that  it  is  in  reality  messenger  work  of  one  kind  or 
another.  The  boys  perform  this  service  in  larger  proportion 
than  the  girls — for  the  girl  is  employed  in  productive  work  at  a 
distinctly  younger  age  than  the  boy. 

Trade  extension  work  for  boys  and  girls  in  the  continuation 
school  is  obviously  impossible  except  for  the  few — mostly  girls — 
because  these  boys  and  girls  have  usually  no  trade  connections. 
Prevocational  work,  consequently  forms  an  important  part  of 
the  program.  Through  contacts  with  industry  and  through  guid- 
ance on  the  part  of  the  teachers  in  the  school  the  young  worker 
may  form  some  adequate  notion  of  what  he  would  like  to  do 
when  he  has  reached  the  age  which  will  enable  him  to  secure 
employment  of  progressive  trade  or  business  character.  The 
prevocational  work  of  the  continuation  school  may  in  its  later 
stages  approach  the  border  line  of  trade  preparatory  instruction, 
but  the  time  of  instruction  is  too  short  to  permit  of  definite  re- 
sults of  this  character.  All  of  the  young  workers  are  put  into 
what  is  called  general  improvement  classes  upon  entrance  into 
the  school,  and  after  periods  of  from  two  to  six  weeks  are  sent 
to  prevocational  or  to  trade  extension  classes  as  their  needs  de- 
mand. Trade  preparatory  work  to  pupils  in  the  out-of-work 
group  can  be  profitably  given  when  limited  to  one-process  work 
such  as  simple  power  machine  operating  for  girls. 

General  improvement  work  simply  means  the  three  R's  of 


154  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

the  grades  but  motivated  so  that  the  boy  or  girl  who  failed  to 
respond  to  this  work  in  the  grades  may  see  it  in  a  new. light; 
the  work  is,  furthermore,  individualized  so  that  the  pupil  may 
realize  that  we  are  trying  to  assist  him  in  his  needs  and  not 
seeking  to  make  him  absorb  a  course  of  study.  The  problem  of 
the  continuation  school  for  children  between  14  and  16  is  far 
more  social  in  character  than  industrial ;  but  the  continuation 
school  may  play  an  important  part  in  the  general  problem  of  ad- 
justment of  the  young  person  to  industry.  The  conditions  of 
success  for  continuation  schools  are  fully  as  critical  as  for  in- 
dustrial schools,  but,  here,  a  different  set  of  causes  obtain.  The 
main  factors  must  be  given  great  attention  in  establishing  con- 
tinuation schools.  One  of  these  is  the  working  child  himself, 
and  the  other  is  the  social  and  industrial  environment  into  which 
the  working  child  has  suddenly  been  projected.  Our  regular 
schools  will  not  be  successful  in  an  attempt  to  undertake  this 
work  without  far-reaching  readjustments.  The  working  child 
has  more  often  than  not  left  the  regular  school  because  of  his 
failure  to  respond  to  the  methods  and  resources  there  obtaining. 
The  size  of  divisions,  elasticity  of  programs,  specially  selected  and 
instructed  teachers,  expert  and  competent  directors  are  essential 
elements  for  a  successful  undertaking  of  the  work  of  continua- 
tion schools.  In  Boston,  teachers  of  prevocational  and  industrial 
work  are  chosen  by  the  same  method  as  are  teachers  in  industrial 
schools.  Teachers  of  non-vocational  work  are  chosen  from  the 
regular  day  schools,  but  they  are  selected  on  the  basis  of  special 
fitness  and  are  given  training  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  con- 
tinuation school  instruction  for  a  period  of  one  year  preceding 
the  assumption  of  the  new  duties  incident  to  continuation  school 
instruction. 

At  whatever  angle  we  view  our  complex  and  rather  unstable 
social  structure  to-day  we  see  in  prospect,  change,  adjustment 
and  new  conditions.  Not  one  of  our  social  forces  toward  which 
human  hopes  and  fears  turn  but  is  face  to  face  with  a  problem 
of  stress  and  effort.  The  question  of  industrial  education  is 
simply  one  of  the  many  and  gigantic  problems  demanding  prompt 
and  courageous  endeavor.  In  an  era  of  preparedness — not  only 
military  but  industrial  and  social — those  of  us  who  serve  in  the 
seemingly  unmilitary  side  of  activity  have  a  place  and  impor- 
tance in  survival  and  supremacy  no  less  essential  than  those  who 
march  in  serried  tread  and  bear  the  glittering  weapons  symboliz- 
ing national  security  and  might. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  155 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION1 

To  many  of  us  the  questions  of  the  so-called  dual  or  unit 
control  are  not  fundamental  at  all.  The  fundamental  questions 
are,  first,  as  to  what  constitutes  sound  pedagogic  theories  as 
to  the  aims  and  methods  suited  to  vocational  education  in  schools, 
and  secondly,  the  most  effective  organization  and  administration 
of  the  means  designed  to  realize  them.  There  are  fewer  mys- 
terious and  uncertain  features  in  vocational  education,  whether 
carried  on  by  school  or  by  other  agencies,  when  such  education 
is  rightly  interpreted  and  defined,  than  in  the  fields  of  the  so- 
called  general  or  liberal  education.  Vocational  education — not  as 
carried  on  in  schools,  of  course — is  the  oldest  as  well  as  even 
yet  the  most  widely  distributed  form  of  education  of  all,  since  all 
grown  men  and  women  have  always  had  vocations  for  which,  with 
some  measure  of  purposiveness,  they  have  been  trained  in  the 
home,  the  field,  the  workshop,  the  commercial  establishment  or  on 
shipboard.  Vocational  education  is,  irreducibly  and  without  un- 
necessary mystification,  education  for  the  pursuit  of  an  occupation. 
In  all  stages  of  social  development  men  have  always  sought,  with 
more  or  less  conscious  'method,  to  train  their  youth  efficiently  to 
follow  a  vocation — to  hunt,  fight,  fish,  farm,  work  metals,  weave, 
bake,  trade,  transport,  teach,  heal,  lead  in  worship  or  to  govern. 
Vocational  education  is  not  all  of  education — never  was  that  fact 
more  clearly  recognized  than  to-day;  but  vocational  education  at 
the  right  time  and  of  the  right  kind  is  supremely  important — and 
of  that  fact  we  have  recently  been  in  danger  of  losing  sight. 
Hence  questions  as  to  what  constitutes  right  vocational  educa- 
tion, when  and  by  whom  it  shall  be  given,  and  how  it  shall  be 
effectively  correlated  with  other  forms  of  education,  are  just  now 
of  the  greatest  importance. 

It  has  long  been  recognized  that  vocational  education  for  many 
of  the  leading  callings  could  no  longer  be  successfully  carried  on1 
by  the  historic  methods  of  apprenticeship.  Hence  have  appeared 
in  succession  vocational  schools  for  the  training  of  lawyers,  the- 
ologians, military  leaders,  physicians,  pharmacists,  dentists,  teach- 
ers, engineers,  navigators,  accountants,  architects,  telegraphers, 
stenographers  and  many  others.  Vocational  schools  for  delin- 

1  From  Comment  on  John  Dewey's  article,  by  David  Snedden.  New 
Republic.  3:40-2.  May  15,  1915. 


156  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

quents  and  for  children  without  homes  were  organized  many  years 
ago  by  philanthropists.  More  recently  the  state  itself  has  entered 
this  field.  In  many  of  our  cities  far-sighted  men  have  been  active 
in  establishing  vocational  trade  schools  as  a  means  of  extending 
educational  opportunities. 

Now,  many  of  us  have  been  forced,  and  often  reluctantly,  to 
the  conclusion  that  if  we  are  to  have  vocational  education  for 
the  rank  and  file  of  our  youth  as  well  as  for  the  favored  classes, 
we  shall  be  obliged  to  provide  special  vocational  schools  for  this 
purpose,  because  the  historic  agencies  of  apprenticeship  training 
have  in  most  cases  become  less  rather  than  more  effective  as 
means  of  sound  vocational  education.  A  few  industries  are  in- 
deed still  so  organized  as  to  be  able  to  give  good  vocational  edu- 
cation, and  it  may  be  that  as  a  result  of  movements  now  taking 
place  others  will  readjust  themselves  so  that  in  them  workers  can 
be  assured  of  progressive  development  of  their  capacities. 

But  in  general,  modern  economic  conditions  are  such  as  to 
impair  rather  than  enhance  the  capacity  of  employers  to  give 
satisfactory  vocational  training.  The  mobility  of  labor  has 
enormously  increased  in  the  western  world,  and  more  particularly 
in  America.  Competition  among  the  various  units  of  a  given  in- 
dustry has,  with  rare  exceptions,  become  keener,  and  the  success 
of  a  given  employer  is  often  dependent  upon  his  ability  to  attract 
immigrant  labor  or  to  lure  skilled  workmen  away  from  his  com- 
petitors. American  manufacturers  have  long  been  accustomed  to 
await  a  supply  of  foremen  and  competent  workmen  from  Euro- 
pean countries.  Western  railroads  by  paying  higher  wages  at- 
tract firemen,  engineers  and  mechanics  away  from  Eastern  roads. 
The  city  employer  tempts  country-trained  hands. 

There  are  some  indications  that  a  wise  cooperation  among  em- 
ployers, now  beginning  to  be  manifested  in  certain  fields,  will  soon 
remedy  this  condition  of  affairs.  Already  the  printers  of  America 
have  joined  forces  to  establish  vocational  schools  for  their  ap- 
prentices. Railroads  are  stealing  workmen  from  each  other  far 
less  than  formerly,  and  some  of  them  now  systematically  train 
their  own  workmen.  A  few  large  manufacturers  have  established 
successful  schools  for  machinists.  But  it  is  not  yet  clear  just  how 
far  this  movement  can  be  carried,  in  view  of  the  competitive  con- 
ditions still  persisting  in  such  fields  as  the  building  trades,  the 
manufacture  of  textiles,  the  food-packing  industries  and  numer- 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  157 

ous  smaller  lines  of  manufacture.  It  is  hardly  to  be  expected 
that  government  can  effectively  force  all  employers  to  cooperate 
in  the  important  function  of  training  workers. 

The  function  of  the  state  in  this  as  in  other  fields  of  educa- 
tion is  clear.  The  state  should  consider  the  good  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  the  needs  of  society,  and  where  private  agencies  can- 
not accomplish  a  desired  end  the  collective  action  of  the  state 
must  be  enlisted  for  this  purpose.  This  is  fundamentally  the 
reason  why  the  various  commonwealths  of  the  United  States 
now,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  assist  such  special  forms  of 
vocational  education  as  engineering,  agriculture  and  even  law 
and  medicine.  Massachusetts,  usually  conservative  as  regards 
state  support  of  higher  schools,  nevertheless  maintains  a  free 
agricultural  college,  makes  large  contributions  towards  engineer- 
ing education,  and  supports  three  schools  designed  for  the  train- 
ing of  leaders  in  the  textile  industries. 

In  the  light  of  recent  experience  it  cannot  be  successfully 
contended  that  the  state  is  unable  to  establish  and  maintain  suc- 
cessful vocational  schools  for  the  various  trades,  for  farming, 
for  home-making,  and  for  the  different  commercial  pursuits. 
The  pedagogic  problems  to  be  encountered  are  doubtless  many 
and  difficult  and  are  made  doubly  so  by  the  academic  preposses- 
sions of  the  men  who  are  likely  to  be  put  in  charge  of  these 
vocational  schools.  It  is  not  yet  clear  how  economically  state- 
supported  vocational  education  can  be  administered,  nor  is  it 
in  every  case  demonstrated  that  it  is  expedient,  as  a  matter  of 
social  policy,  to  have  the  state  or  the  nation  support  such  schools. 
But  the  time  has  passed  when  the  feasibility  of  such  training 
could  be  questioned. 

When  and  under  what  conditions  a  youth  should  be  per- 
mitted to  enter  a  vocational  school  is  yet  debatable.  In  Massa- 
chusetts the  law  carefully  provides  that  a  youth  shall  be  eligible 
to  enter  a  vocational  school  only  at  the  time  when  he  is  equally 
eligible  to  leave  the  regular  public  schools  and  to  become  a  fac- 
tory or  farm  hand.  The  administrative  theory  under  which  Mas- 
sachusetts vocational  schools  are  being  conducted  assumes  that 
the  youth  ready  to  embark  on  wage-earning  who  instead  turns 
aside  for  a  period  in  a  vocational  school,  should  be  able  to 
concentrate  his  efforts  largely  in  learning  the  occupation  selected. 
It  is  not  desirable  to  blend  so-called  liberal  and  vocational  edu- 


158  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

cation  at  this  period,  it  being  always  within  the  possibilities  of 
the  youth  to  continue  in  the  regular  or  general  elementary  or 
high  school  if  he  so  elects. 

It  is  sometimes  asserted  that  vocational  education  given  by 
schools  under  state  support  is  beneficial  chiefly  to  employers.  It 
is  incredible  that  men  acquainted  with  the  economic  conditions 
of  our  time,  the  competition  of  employers  for  labor  and  the  mobil- 
ity of  labor  itself,  should  take  this  view.  In  every  occupation 
in  the  country  there  is  constant  competition  for  superior  ability, 
as  is  manifested  in  the  varying  wage  rates  usually  found.  The 
only  sound  point  of  view  is  to  regard  vocational  education  as 
being  primarily  of  significance  to  the  boys  and  girls  concerned, 
and  ultimately,  of  course,  to  society  as  a  whole.  If  vocational 
education  does  not  result  in  greater  productive  capacity  and  if 
greater  productive  capacity  does  not  result  in  a  larger  share  to 
the  laborer,  then,  indeed,  are  the  times  very  much  out  of  joint. 

The  question  of  so-called  dual  versus  unit  control  is  merely 
one  of  securing  the  greatest  efficiency.  In  most  states  we  al- 
ready have  the  dual  control,  if  we  wish  so  to  style  it,  of  our 
various  special  vocational  schools  of  agriculture,  industrial  train- 
ing for  delinquents,  etc.  In  point  of  fact  there  can  be  no  such 
thing  as  ultimate  dual  control  of  any  stated  type  of  school,  since 
administrative  bodies  must  owe  their  creation  to  some  single 
state  agency,  such  as  the  legislature,  the  governor  as  authorized 
by  the  legislature,  or  local  administrative  agencies  as  created  by 
legislative  enactment.  Such  so-called  dual  control  as  one  finds 
in  Wisconsin  or  as  it  existed  in  Massachusetts  from  1906  toigio, 
simply  represents  an  attempt  to  put  in  immediate  charge  of  a 
special  form  of  education  a  group  of  persons  who  are  primarily 
interested  in  its  successful  development,  and  who  may  be  able 
to  bring  it  to  the  point  of  view  of  practical  men  in  that  field, 
Business  men  generally  are  suspicious  of  the  so-called  academic 
mind  in  connection  with  vocational  education.  They  feel  as- 
sured neither  of  the  friendliness  nor  of  the  competency  of  our 
schoolmasters  in  developing  sound  industrial  education.  For  that 
reason  they  often  favor  some  form  of  partially  separate  control, 
at  least  at  the  outset  of  any  new  experiment. 

If  vocational  education  is  to  be  successfully  established  in 
those  states  where  academic  tradition  strongly  persists,  it  may 
prove  absolutely  essential  that  some  form  of  separate  control 
should,  at  least  temporarily,  be  inaugurated  with  a  view  to  ob- 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  159 

taining  best  results.  School  men,  however  well-intentioned,  are 
apt  to  be  impractical  and  to  fail  to  appreciate  actual  „ conditions. 
Some  successful  beginnings  of  vocational  education  of  the 
kind  discussed  in  this  paper  have  been  made  in  Massachusetts. 
The  present  stage  of  development  would  not  have  been  reached  if 
it  had  not  been  for  the  activities  of  the  Commission  on  Industrial 
Education  during  the  years  1906  to  1910.  The  ultimate  merger 
of  this  body  with  the  Board  of  Education  may  have  represented 
what  should  happen  in  every  state  after  particular  forms  of 
development  have  arrived  at  some  degree  of  maturity. 


CO-OPERATION  OF  AGENCIES1 

The  several  studies  of  vocational  education  show  the  need  of 
such  training  for  both  boys  and  girls,  while  making  clear  the 
dangers  to  be  avoided  and  the  way  to  avoid  them.  A  really  suc- 
cessful vocational  educational  system  is  possible  of  attainment 
only  by  means  of  the  hearty  co-operation  of  both  employers  and 
employees  with  the  public.  Employers  and  employees  are  the 
best  judges  of  the  kind  of  industrial  instruction  needed  and 
whether  it  can  best  be  given  in  the  public  school  or  in  the  shop. 
Such  studies  as  the  "Vocational  Education  Survey"  of  Richmond, 
Va.,  which  constitutes  Bulletin  162  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  are  needed  in  other  cities,  to  furnish  the  basis  of  facts 
for  the  right  kind  of  vocational  education. 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  AND  THE 
AMERICAN  FEDERATION  OF  LABOR2 

An  argument,  I  take  it,  is  not  required  of  me  in  support  of 
industrial  education,  nor  any  exposition  of  the  purposes  or  ideals 
of  industrial  education.  You  know  what  industrial  education  is 
and  what  are  its  purposes  and  ideals.  The  question  in  your  minds 
is  perhaps  with  reference  to  myself  as  a  representative  of  organ- 

1  From  "Work  of  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  in  Its  Relation 
to  the  Business  of  the  Country,"  by  Royal  Meeker.     Annals  of  the  Ameri- 
can Academy.  63:269.  June,  1916. 

2  By  Samuel  Gompers.    Manual  Training  and  Vocational  Education.   16: 
329-39.  February,  1915. 


160  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

ized  labor.  Do  I  know  what  industrial  education  is,  and  what 
are  its  purposes  and  ideals?  But  as  my  personal  knowledge  is 
of  very  little  consequence  to  anyone,  except  as  a  sort  of  reflex  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  millions  of  workers,  the  question  is,  in 
fact,  does  organized  labor  understand  what  industrial  education 
is,  and  what  are  its  purposes  and  ideals?  Finally,  if  it  does 
understand  these  purposes  and  ideals,  does  it  approve  of  them? 
And  will  it  cooperate  sincerely  in  the  development  of  tried  and 
proven  rational  schemes  of  industrial  education? 

A  great  part  of  my  life  and  energy  has  been  devoted  to  com- 
bating wrong-headed  notions  about  the  attitude  of  organized 
labor  with  reference  to  every  sort  of  social  and  economic  ques- 
tion. These  questions  have  increased  in  number  and  in  variety 
with  the  development  of  industrial  civilization.  The  need  for 
efficient  industrial  education  for  our  boys  and  girls  is  now  more 
urgent  than  ever  before.  Nor  is  the  need  of  educational  training 
for  greater  efficiency  confined  to  the  factory  or  the  shops ;  it  is 
manifest  in  the  home  life,  and  in  demands  for  instruction  in 
domestic  economy.  The  factory  system  and  modern  industrial 
organization  have  resulted  in  such  high  specialization  that  only 
what  have  been  referred  to  tonight  as  the  tag-ends  of  industry 
have  been  left  to  women  in  the  homes,  and  in  modern  industrial 
establishments  the  subdivision  of  labor  has  gone  on  to  such  a 
degree  that  workers  perform  the  same  set  task  a  thousand,  or 
ten  thousand,  or  a  hundred  thousand  times  a  day.  The  same 
task  is  automatically  repeated  again  and  again  without  knowledge 
of  its  relation  to  the  rest  of  the  industry  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
gaining  time  and  speed.  I  repeat  that  if  ever  industrial  educa- 
tion was  essential  it  is  essential  today.  We  cannot  turn  back  the 
wheels  of  industry,  but  we  can  make  the  knowledge  and  the 
effectiveness  of  the  workers  such  that  they  will  have  some  com- 
prehension of  the  entire  article  produced  and  of  every  branch  of 
the  production. 

In  the  work  I  have  sometimes  felt  that  the  presumption  is 
always  against  labor — that  it  is  always  assumed  as  a  matter  ol 
course  that  labor  is  by  a  sort  of  "natural  depravity"  and  strange 
blindness,  opposed  to  everything,  including  everything  that  is  for 
its  own  interest.  Sometimes  it  is  assumed  that  this  opposition 
is  due  to  pernicious  temperament  on  the  part  of  labor  leaders, 
and  sometimes  that  it  is  due  to  simple  ignorance  and  incapacity  to 
understand  complex  social  conditions.  The  workers  are  essen- 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  161 

tially  honest  and  sincere,  and  let  me  assure  you,  the  degree  of 
their  ignorance  is  not  so  great  as  the  presumptuous  and  super- 
cilious often  assume  it  to  be. 

It  may  be  difficult  to  cram  into  twenty  minutes'  time  all  that 
may  be  necessary  to  say  with  reference  to  the  attitude  of  organ- 
ized labor  toward  industrial  education,  but  I  shall  endeavor  to 
comply  with  the  limit  set. 

You  should  know  that  organized  labor  does  not  oppose  the 
development  of  industrial  education  in  the  public  schools.  In- 
deed, that  would  not  at  all  fairly  indicate  the  attitude  of  organ- 
ized labor.  I  say  to  you  that  the  organizations  constituting  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  have  been  for  years  engaged  in 
the  work  of  systematically  providing  industrial  education  to  their 
members.  This  instruction  has  been  given  thru  the  medium  of 
the  trade  union  journal  and  schools  established  and  maintained 
by  them.  Organized  labor,  I  repeat,  is  not  opposed  to  industrial 
education.  It  is  eager  to  cooperate  actively  in  instituting  indus- 
trial education  in  our  public  schools.  The  workingman  has  too 
little  time,  and  can  therefore  take  but  little  interest  in  any  other 
sort  of  education. 

You  will  agree  with  me  that  there  is  absolutely  no  reason 
why  labor,  organized  or  unorganized,  should  oppose  the  sort  of 
industrial  education  proposed  here  in  Richmond,  and  I  can  assure 
you  that  labor  does  not  oppose  anything  without  good  reason. 
When  it  has  good  reason  to  oppose  so  many  things  why  should 
it  oppose  anything  without  reason? 

Need  to  Distinguish  between  Public  and  Private  Interest 

Organized  labor  has  opposed  and  will  continue  to  oppose  some 
enterprises  which  have  been  undertaken  in  the  name  of  industrial 
education.  It  has  opposed  and  will  continue  to  oppose  the  ex- 
ploitation of  the  laborer  even  when  the  exploitation  is  done  under 
the  name  of  industrial  education.  It  may  continue  to  regard  with 
indifference,  if  not  with  suspicion,  some  private  schemes  of  indus- 
trial education.  With  regard  to  such  enterprises  where  they  are 
instituted  by  employers,  organized  labor  is  from  Missouri — it 
will  have  to  be  shown  that  the  given  enterprise  is  not  a  means  of 
exploiting  labor — a  means  of  depressing  wages  by  creating  an 
over  supply  of  labor  in  certain  narrow  fields  of  employment. 

Organized  labor  cannot  favor  any  scheme  of  industrial  edu- 


162  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

cation  which  is  lop-sided — any  scheme,  that  is  to  say,  which  will 
bring  trained  men  into  any  given  trade  without  regard  to  the  de- 
mand for  labor  in  that  trade.  Industrial  education  must  main- 
tain a  fair  and  proper  apportionment  of  the  supply  of  labor  power 
to  the  demand  for  labor  power  in  every  line  of  work.  Other- 
wise its  advantages  will  be  entirely  neutralised.  If,  for  example, 
the  result  of  industrial  education  is  to  produce  in  any  community 
a  greater  number  of  trained  machinists  than  are  needed  in  the 
community,  those  machinists  which  have  been  trained  cannot  de- 
rive any  benefit  from  their  training,  since  they  will  not  be  able 
to  find  employment  except  at  economic  disadvantages.  Under 
these  conditions  industrial  education  is  of  no  advantage  to  those 
who  have  received  it,  and  it  is  a  distinct  injury  to  the  journeymen 
working  at  the  trade  who  are  subjected  to  a  keen  competition 
artificially  produced.  Industrial  education  must  reach  the  needs 
of  the  worker  as  well  as  the  requirements  of  the  employer. 

I  can  see  that  in  some  respects  the  most  difficult  task  before 
industrial  education  is  that  of  maintaining  an  equilibrium  of 
supply  and  demand  of  efficient  artisans,  and  equilibrium  as  nearly 
perfect  as  is  physically  possible.  How  shall  this  most  difficult 
problem  be  solved?  How  shall  such  an  equilibrium  of  labor 
supply  and  demand  be  maintained  and  industrial  education  be 
entirely  freed  from  any  suspicion  of  working  injury  to  labor  by 
causing  a  maladjustment  of  supply  to  demand? 

The  answer  to  these  questions  seems  obvious.  There  is  in  my 
opinion  only  one  way  to  avoid  the  difficulty,  only  one  way  in 
which  to  avoid  the  danger  of  working  serious  injury  to  labor — 
working  injury  in  spite  of  the  very  best  intentions  to  benefit 
labor.  The  only  way  to  avoid  working  an  injury  to  labor  under 
the  name  of  industrial  education  is  to  find  out  what  is  the  demand 
for  labor  in  a  community.  In  a  word,  it  seems  to  me  the  only 
safe  basis  for  understanding  industrial  education  in  any  com- 
munity is  the  basis  which,  as  I  understand,  has  been  established 
here  in  Richmond.  Industrial  education  should  be  in  every  in- 
stance based  upon  a  survey  of  the  industries  of  the  community — 
upon  an  accumulation  of  facts  regarding  the  employments  in  the 
community.  Upon  such  a  basis  the  public  schools  may  properly 
proceed  to  provide  for  the  particular  industrial  needs  of  the  com- 
munity, and  with  such  an  accumulation  of  data  in  hand  there 
can  be  no  excuse  if  industrial  education  does  not  prove  to  be  of 
undoubted  benefit  to  labor  and  to  the  community. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  163 

Industrial  education  comes  close  to  the  life  and  happiness  of 
labor.  It  involves  the  means  of  livelihood  for  the  workingman. 
The  test  of  efficiency  of  industrial  education  is  wage-earning 
power — not  simply  increase  in  efficiency  of  labor  to  produce.  It 
is  perfectly  possible  for  industrial  education,  even  when  provided 
by  the  public  schools,  if  it  is  not  organized  with  regard  to  the 
industrial  needs  of  the  community,  to  increase  the  productivity 
and  efficiency  of  certain  groups  of  labor  and  at  the  same  time 
to  reduce  the  wage-earning  power  of  the  laborer  in  those  groups. 
There  is  nothing  mysterious  in  this.  It  would  result  from  the 
working  of  a  universal  economic  law.  To  the  extent  that  indus- 
trial education  is  not  precisely  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  com- 
munity, it  will  tend  to  have  exactly  this  result,  namely,  it  will  in- 
crease the  productive  efficiency  of  certain  groups  of  labor  and  by 
bringing  into  these  groups  an  oversupply  of  labor  will  tend  to 
economic  deterioration. 

I  can  assure  you  that  no  disposition  will  be  found  anywhere 
among  workingmen  to  oppose  this  effort  to  make  our  schools 
more  democratic  in  serving  the  real  bread-and-butter  needs  of  the 
community. 

Let  me  tell  you  further  that  labor — organized  labor — has 
been  active  for  years  to  secure  this  end,  active  in  its  efforts  to 
make  the  public  schools  do  precisely  that  which  some  misin- 
formed people  even  think  labor  opposes.  In  1903  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  at  its  annual  convention  appointed  a  com- 
mittee on  education.  What  sort  of  education  interested  the  dele- 
gates of  that  convention?  It  was  not  that  education  which  deals 
with  the  syntax  of  dead  languages ;  it  was  not  even  the  education 
which  deals  with  the  development  of  the  fine  arts,  or  with  the 
systematic  teaching  of  the  science.  These  are  all  of  them  legiti- 
mate ends  of  education  and  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
approves  of  these  educational  ends,  but  the  sort  of  education 
which  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  was  particularly  in- 
terested in,  and  the  sort  of  education  which  was  under  considera- 
tion when  this  committee  on  education  was  appointed  in  1903,  was 
industrial  education.  This  was  more  than  a  decade  ago  and 
during  the  entire  period  which  has  elapsed  since  the  appointment 
of  the  committee  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  has  been 
active  in  fostering  and  furthering  every  legitimate  enterprise  for 
the  industrial  education  of  workers. 

I  will  ask  Mr.  Prosser  how  long  the  National  Society  for  the 


164  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

Promotion  for  Industrial  Education  has  been  working  in  this 
field.  (Mr.  Prosser  answered  "About  eight  years.")  We  have  been 
working  for  industrial  education  for  more  than  a  decade.  This 
committee  appointed  in  1903  was  to  consider  what  the  trade 
unions  themselves  could  do  to  make  up  for  the  deficiency  of  the 
public  schools.  The  trade  unions  whose  members  paid  taxes  to 
support  the  public  schools  were  not  getting  from  those  schools 
the  sort  of  education  which  they  needed  to  enable  them  to  become 
skilled,  efficient,  and  better  paid  workingmen. 

They  were  getting,  in  so  far  as  they  got  anything  at  all,  a  sort 
of  education  which  had  for  them  very  little  value,  and  they  there- 
fore took  under  consideration  the  possibility  of  organizing  a 
scheme  of  education  which  would  be  of  value  to  them. 

Now  when  the  public  schools  come  forward  with  a  proposi- 
tion to  provide  the  sort  of  education  needed  by  the  workingmen, 
do  you  think  that  they  are  going  to  oppose  that  undertaking?  I 
do  not  think  so.  In  fact  I  know  that  they  will  welcome  any  such 
development. 

Official  Action  by  The  Federation. 

In  1904  another  committee  on  education  was  appointed,  and 
again  in  1905  another  committee,  and  again  in  1906.  In  1907  the 
A.  F.  of  L.  at  its  annual  convention  resolved  that  "we  do  en- 
dorse any  policy  or  any  society  (this  I  may  state  included  and 
had  special  reference  to  the  National  Society  for  the  Promotion 
of  Industrial  Education)  or  association,  having  for  its  object  the 
raising  the  standard  of  industrial  education  and  the  teaching  of 
the  higher  technic  of  our  various  industries." 

The  committee  to  which  this  resolution  was  referred  reported 
it  "decided  to  record  itself  in  favor  of  the  best  opportunities  for 
the  most  complete  and  best  industrial  and  technical  training  ob- 
tainable," and  it  recommended  an  investigation  of  industrial 
school  systems. 

In  1906  the  committee  on  education  tested  "with  satisfaction 
the  splendid  progress  accomplished  by  the  Executive  Council 
along  the  lines  of  industrial  education,"  and  submitted  to  the 
convention  a  set  of  resolutions  in  which  it  stated  that  "industrial 
education  is  necessary  and  inevitable  for  the  progress  of  an  in- 
dustrial people." 

Industrial   education  was  before  the  convention  of   1909,   at 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  165 

which  time  I  myself  stated  in  my  report  that  the  A.  F.  of  L. 
favored  public  industrial  education,  and  opposed  only  narrowly 
specialized  training  under  the  control  of  private  interests.  Or- 
ganized labor  has  always  opposed  and  will  continue  to  oppose 
sham  industrial  education,  whether  at  public  or  private  expense. 
It  has  opposed  and  will  continue  to  oppose  that  superficial 
training  which  confers  no  substantial  benefit  upon  the  worker, 
which  does  not  make  him  a  craftsman,  but  only  an  interloper, 
who  may  be  available  in  times  of  crisis,  perhaps,  as  a  strike 
breaker,  but  not  as  a  trained  artisan  for  industrial  service  at 
other  times.  Industrial  education  must  train  men  for  work  not 
for  private  and  sinister  corporation  purposes. 

I  refer  to  this  by  way  of  explaining  what  it  is  that  has  at 
times  in  the  past  aroused  labor's  opposition  to  what  has  been  un- 
fairly called  industrial  education.  It  will  be  found  that  wher- 
ever labor  has  opposed  what  has  been  put  forth  as  industrial 
education,  the  enterprise  called  industrial  education  has  been 
something  entirely  different  from  that  which  Richmond  is  insti- 
tuting in  its  public  schools  today. 

To  the  1909  convention  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
I  took  pleasure  in  submitting  this :  "That  since  technical  educa- 
tion of  the  workers  in  trade  and  industry  is  a  public  necessity  it 
should  not  be  a  private,  but  a  public  function,  conducted  by  the 
public  and  the  expense  involved  at  public  cost."  You  people  in 
Richmond  are  doing  today  precisely  what  the  committee  of  the 
A.  F.  of  L.  recommended  five  years  ago  should  be  done. 

In  1911  the  A.  F.  of  L.  came  forward  in  support  of  a  bill  in 
Congress  providing  for  national  aid  in  establishing  vocational 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  the  country.  Since  that 
date  up  to  the  present  time  the  A.  F.  of  L.  has  consistently,  per- 
sistently, and  unremittingly  advocated  the  establishment  of  in- 
dustrial education  in  the  public  schools. 

The  sort  of  industrial  education  which  Richmond  is  institu- 
ting is  the  one  and  the  only  sort  of  industrial  education  which 
can  enlist  the  sincere  cooperation  of  trade  unionists  and  should 
receive  the  cooperation  of  employers  as  well.  It  is  equally  to  the 
interest  of  the  employers  as  of  labor,  that  workingmen  shall  be 
trained  for  real  efficiency.  The  efficient  worker  produces  more 
and  by  virtue  of  his  efficiency  makes  for  a  higher  economic,  in- 
dustrial, commercial,  and  social  development.  I  believe  that  the 
welfare  of  labor  depends  to  a  very  large  extent  upon  the  develop- 


i66  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

ment  of  industrial  education,  and  that  in  this  case  at  least,  the 
welfare  of  the  employer,  and  of  the  community  is  equally  in- 
volved with  that  of  the  workingman.  In  the  matter  of  industrial 
education  there  is  absolutely  no  controversy  between  labor  and 
the  employers  of  labor — provided  always  that  the  industrial  edu- 
cation is  what  it  purports  to  be — industrial  education,  organized 
by  the  public  schools  for  the  benefit  of  the  youth  of  the  com- 
munity. Organized  labor  represents  the  fathers  and  mothers  of 
the  youths,  and  the  fathers  and  mothers  are  not  going  to  oppose 
the  best  interests  of  their  own  children. 

Those  who  wish  documentary  proof  that  organized  labor  has 
for  years  been  actively  agitating  for  the  institution  of  industrial 
education  in  the  public  schools,  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  provide 
with  such  proofs.  They  are  spread  through  the  annual  reports 
of  every  covention  held  by  the  A.  F.  of  L.  beginning  with  that  of 
1903  and  including  that  of  1914.  In  1910  the  Federation  pub- 
lished a  preliminary  Report  on  Industrial  Education,  and  in 
1912  a  full  report  of  its  Committee  on  Industrial  Education,  ap- 
proved in  conformity  with  a  resolution  of  the  convention  held  in 
Denver  in  1908. 

Education  and  Industrial  Competition. 

Let  us  approach  this  question  from  an  entirely  different  angle 
in  order  to  bring  out  clearly  labor's  interest  in  the  development 
of  industrial  education. 

American  industries  are  producing  in  competition  with  the 
industries  established  in  other  countries.  In  normal  times,  when 
these  other  countries  are  not  engaged  in  warring  upon  one  an- 
other with  wonderfully  ingenious  and  effective  instruments  of 
wholesale  murder,  they  are  none  the  less  strenuously  engaged  in 
a  warfare  of  industrial  competition.  I  use  the  word  "warfare" 
in  this  connection  because  no  other  word  seems  adequately  to 
sum  up  the  strains  and  rivalries  of  industrial  competition  be- 
tween nations,  but  I  would  not  wish  you  to  assume  that  I  think 
that  there  is  any  very  close  analogy  between  the  conflicts  of  or- 
ganized militant  wholesale  murder  and  the  contests  of  industrial 
education.  Industrial  rivalry  is  beneficent,  not  malign;  it  is  a 
condition  of  social  progress,  not  of  rapine  and  destruction. 

Industrial  competition  and  rivalry  is  a  condition  of  improv- 
ing material  welfare,  and  of  advancing  civilization.  In  a  word, 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  167 

industrial  competition  is  a  warfare  of  progress,  and  in  this  war- 
fare no  nation  can  maintain  its  industrial  supremacy,  nor  can 
any  nation  insure  the  progressive  improvement  in  the  material 
welfare  of  its  people,  which  does  not  adopt  the  most  effective 
devices  of  the  industrial  world  struggle. 

It  is  well  known  to  you,  who  are  all  of  you  informed  regard- 
ing the  development  of  industrial  education,  that  this  sort  of 
education  has  been  adopted  very  generally  by  those  nations  with 
which  the  people  of  the  United  States — the  workingman  as  well 
as  the  employer  of  labor — must  compete.  Industrial  education 
of  the  workers,  even  extending  to  workers  in  the  unskilled  em- 
ployments, has  been,  for  example,  Germany's  chief  method  of 
industrial  conquest.  With  this  means  Germany  has  entered  not 
only  foreign  markets,  but  even  our  own  domestic  market  in  many 
lines.  What  does  that  trade  mark  with  which  we  have  all  be- 
come so  familiar  in  recent  years  "Made  in  Germany"  mean?  It 
means  simply  industrial  education  of  the  workers  of  Germany. 
Largely  by  virtue  of  that  education,  Germany  has  been  able  to 
produce  commodities  and  to  place  them  in  our  own  markets,  and 
in  many  cases  has  been  able  to  displace  the  American  product. 

This  successful  competition  of  Germany  does  not  mean  that 
Germany  has  depended  upon  cheap  labor  to  enable  her  to  pro- 
duce cheaply.  We  can  compete  with  cheap  labor  in  any  line, 
because  cheap  labor  is  in  fact,  and  in  the  last  analysis  not  cheap 
labor  at  all.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  most  expensive  and  least 
profitable  labor.  No  community  which  depends  on  cheap  labor 
in  the  sense  of  underpaid  labor  can  win  out  in  international 
competition  against  a  nation  which  depends  upon  intelligent, 
thoroly  trained  labor.  Thoroly  trained  labor  produces  cheaply 
not  because  it  is  underpaid  but  because  it  is  efficient.  And  thoroly 
trained  efficient  labor  can  demand  high  wages  because  of  its 
intelligence,  efficiency  and  organization. 

Is  it  not  clearly  to  the  interest  of  the  workingmen  of  the 
United  States  that  they  should  be  put  upon  the  same  level  of 
competition  as  that  occupied  by  workingmen  of  foreign  countries 
with  whom  they  must  compete?  Are  not  the  workingmen  vitally 
interested  in  maintaining  American  industries  in  competition 
with  foreign  industries?  If  these  industries  decline  it  is  the 
American  workingman  who  is  thrown  into  the  ranks  of  the  un- 
employed— the  American  artisan  who  is  depressed  into  the  ranks 
of  the  unskilled.  In  this  process  the  standard  of  skilled  labor  is 


i68  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

degraded  and  unskilled  labor  is  subjected  to  a  new  sort  of  com- 
petition which  inevitably  weakens  its  condition.  The  process  of 
industrial  progress  is  reversed.  Instead  of  making  the  skilled 
workman  more  skilled  and  at  the  same  time  lifting  the  unskilled 
worker  into  the  ranks  of  the  skilled,  the  skilled  worker  is  forced 
down  into  the  congested  mass  of  unskilled  labor. 

Perhaps,  however,  even  this  deterioration  of  labor  is  not  the 
chief  consideration.  No  civilized  nation  can  maintain  its  self- 
respect  on  any  other  basis  than  that  of  competing  in  industrial 
rivalry  on  the  basis,  not  of  ignorance  but  of  intelligence,  on  the 
basis  not  of  cheap  labor  but  of  efficient,  well  trained  labor,  on 
the  basis  not  of  brute  manual  labor,  but  of  skill  and  proficiency. 

We  do  not  wish  to  compete  with  Europe  as  the  Chinese  com- 
pete with  the  whole  world.  We  could  not  do  that  and  retain  our 
self-respect.  We  could  not  do  that  without  adopting  Chinese 
methods  of  work  which  would  mean  a  minimum  of  rest  and 
food,  no  recreation,  and  a  maximum  of  hours  of  labor.  If  we 
are  not  willing  to  adopt  Chinese  methods,  we  must  adopt  weap- 
ons of  industrial  progress  which  have  enabled  European  nations 
to  advance  in  material  welfare  in  competition,  not  only  with  the 
Orient,  but  more  especially  in  competition  with  the  United 
States,  and  with  other  countries  in  which  have  been  available  as 
a  basis  of  industrial  development  vast  natural  resources.  The 
period  is  almost  past  when  the  United  States  can  depend  upon 
cheap  raw  materials  obtained  with  comparatively  little  labor 
from  its  mines  and  virgin  fields.  It  is  entering  a  period  when  it 
must  depend  upon  the  equalities  of  human  labor.  Under  these 
conditions  industrial  decline  is  the  only  alternative  to  industrial 
education.  Do  you  think  that  organized  labor  is  going  to  advo- 
cate a  policy  of  industrial  decline — a  policy  of  competing  on  a 
basis  of  cheap  labor,  instead  of  trained  and  efficient  labor?  Do 
you  think  it  is  going  to  advocate  the  adoption  of  Chinese  meth- 
ods in  its  competition  with  Europe?  I  can  assure  you  that  the 
American  workingman  will  not  accept  any  such  solution  of  the 
problem.  He  will  insist  that  competition  will  not  be  upon  the 
basis  of  cheap  brute  labor,  but  of  efficient  intelligent  skilled  labor, 
which  means  that  he  will  in  the  future,  as  he  has  done  in  the 
past,  insist  that  the  instruction  in  our  public  schools  be  made 
democratic;  in  a  word  that  the  public  schools  generally  shall  in- 
stitute industrial  education,  and  that  that  education  shall  be  based 
upon  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  industries  to  determine  what 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  169 

sort  of  industrial  training  is  required  and  is  most  conducive  to 
the  physical,  mental,  material,  and  social  welfare  of  the  workers, 
the  community,  and  that  which  holds  out  the  best  hope  for 
America's  workers,  her  citizenship,  the  perpetuity  of  our  repub- 
lic, and  fulfilment  of  its  mission  as  the  leader  in  the  humani- 
tarianism  of  the  world. 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  FOR  GIRL'S1 

If  we  wish  to  know  the  special  demands  of  working-women 
there  is  no  way  so  certain  as  to  consult  the  organized  women. 
They  alone  are  at  liberty  to  express  their  views,  while  the  educa- 
tion they  have  had  in  their  unions  in  handling  questions  vital  to 
their  interests  as  wage-earners,  and  as  leaders  of  other  women, 
gives  clearness  and  definiteness  to  the  expression  of  those  views. 

If  organized  women  can  best  represent  the  wage-earners  of 
their  sex,  we  can  gain  the  best  collective  statement  of  their  wishes 
through  them.  At  the  last  convention  of  the  National  Women's 
Trade  Union  League  in  June,  1913,  the  subject  of  industrial  edu- 
cation received  very  close  attention.  The  importance  of  continu- 
ation schools  after  wage-earning  days  have  commenced  was  not 
overlooked.  An  abstract  of  the  discussion  and  the  chief  resolu- 
tions can  be  found  in  the  issue  of  Life  and  Labor  for  August, 


After  endorsing  the  position  taken  up  by  the  American  Feder- 
ation of  Labor,  the  women  went  on  to  urge  educational  authori- 
ties to  arm  the  children,  while  yet  at  school,  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  state  and  federal  laws  enacted  for  their  protection,  and 
asked  also  "that  such  a  course  shall  be  of  a  nature  to  equip  the 
boy  and  girl  with  a  full  sense  of  his  or  her  responsibility  for 
seeing  that  the  laws  are  enforced,"  the  reason  being  that  the  yearly 
influx  of  young  boys  and  girls  into  the  industrial  world  in  entire 
ignorance  of  their  own  state  laws  is  one  of  the  most  menacing 
facts  we  have  to  face,  as  their  ignorance  and  inexperience  make 
exploitation  easy,  and  weaken  the  force  of  such  protective  legis- 
lation as  we  have. 

Yet  another  suggestion  was  that  "no  working  certificates  be 

1  From  "Trade  Union  Woman,"  by  Alice  Henry.  Copyright  19  15,  by  D. 
Appleton  and  Company. 


i;o  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

issued  to  a  boy  or  girl  unless  he  or  she  has  passed  a  satisfactory 
examination  in  the  laws  which  have  been  enacted  by  the  state 
for  their  protection." 

In  making  these  claims,  organized  working-women  are  keep- 
ing themselves  well  in  line  with  the  splendid  statement  of  princi- 
ples enunciated  by  that  great  educator  John  Dewey : 

The  ethical  responsibility  of  the  school  on  the  social  side  must  be  inter- 
preted in  the  broadest  and  freest  spirit;  it  is  equivalent  to  that  training  of 
the  child  which  will  give  him  such  possession  of  himself  that  he  may  take 
charge  of  himself;  may  not  only  adapt  himself  to  the  changes  that  are 
going  on,  but  have  power  to  shape  and  direct  them. 

When  we  ask  for  coeducation  on  vocational  lines,  the  ques- 
tion is  sure  to  come  up :  For  how  long  is  a  girl  likely  to  use  her 
training  in  a  wage-earning  occupation  ?  It  is  continually  asserted 
and  assumed  she  will  on  the  average  remain  in  industry  but  a 
few  years.  The  mature  woman  as  a  wage-earner,  say  the  woman 
over  twenty-five,  we  have  been  pleased  to  term  and  to  treat  as  an 
exception  which  may  be  ignored  in  great  general  plans.  Especially 
has  this  been  so  in  laying  out  schemes  for  vocational  training, 
and  we  find  the  girl  being  ignored,  not  only  on  the  usual  ground 
that  she  is  a  girl,  but  for  the  additional,  and  not-to-be-questioned 
reason  that  it  will  not  pay  to  give  her  instruction  in  any  variety 
of  skilled  trades,  because  she  will  be  but  a  short  time  in  any  oc- 
cupation of  the  sort.  Hence  this  serves  to  increase  the  already 
undue  emphasis  placed  upon  domestic  training  as  all  that  a  girl 
needs,  and  all  that  her  parents  or  the  community  ought  to  expect 
her  to  have.  This  is  the  only  one  of  the  many  cases  when  we 
try  to  solve  our  new  problems  by  reasoning  based  upon  conditions 
that  have  passed  or  that  are  passing  away. 

In  this  connection  some  startling  facts  have  been  brought 
forward  by  Dr.  Leonard  P.  Ayres  in  the  investigations  conducted 
by  him  for  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation.  He  tried  to  find  the 
ages  of  all  the  women  who  are  following  seven  selected  occupa-  • 
tions  in  cities  of  the  United  States  of  over  50,000  population. 
The  occupations  chosen  were  those  in  which  the  number  of 
women  workers  exceeds  one  for  every  thousand  of  the  popula- 
tion. The  number  of  women  covered  was  857,743,  and  is  just 
half  of  all  the  women  engaged  in  gainful  employment  in  those 
cities.  The  seven  occupations  listed  are  housekeeper,  nursemaid, 
laundress,  saleswoman,  teacher,  dressmaker,  and  servant.  No  less 
than  forty-four  per  cent  of  the  housekeepers  are  between  twenty- 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  171 

five  and  forty-five.  Of  dressmakers  there  are  fifty-one  per  cent 
between  these  two  ages ;  of  teachers  fifty-eight  per  cent ;  of  laun- 
dresses forty-nine  per  cent,  while  the  one  occupation  of  which  a 
little  more  than  half  are  under  twenty-five  years  is  that  of  sales- 
woman, and  even  here  there  are  barely  sixty-one  per  cent,  leaving 
the  still  considerable  proportion  of  thirty-nine  per  cent  of  sales- 
women over  the  age  of  twenty-five.  It  is  pretty  certain  that  these 
mature  women  have  given  more  than  the  favorite  seven  years  to 
their  trade.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  investigation  was  not 
made  on  lines  which  would  have  included  some  of  the  factory 
occupations.  It  is  difficult  to  see  why  it  did  not.  Under  any 
board  classification  there  must  be  more  garment-workers,  for  in- 
stance, in  New  York  or  Chicago,  than  there  are  teachers.  How- 
ever, we  have  reason  to  be  grateful  for  the  fine  piece  of  work 
which  Dr.  Ayres  has  done  here. 

The  Survey,  in  an  editorial,  also  quotes  in  refutation  of  the 
seven-year  theory,  the  findings  of  the  commission  which  inquired 
into  the  pay  of  teachers  in  New  York.  The  commissioners  found 
that  forty-four  per  cent  of  the  women  teachers  in  the  public 
schools  had  been  in  the  service  for  ten  years  or  more,  and  that 
only  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  men  teachers  had  served  as  long 
a  term. 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  tendency  is  towards  the 
lengthening  of  the  wage-earning  life  of  the  working-woman.  A 
number  of  factors  affect  the  situation,  about  most  of  which  we 
have  yet  little  definite  information.  There  is  first,  the  gradual 
passing  of  the  household  industries  out  of  the  home.  Those 
women,  for  whom  the  opportunity  to  be  thus  employed  no  longer 
is  open,  tend  to  take  up  or  to  remain  longer  in  wage-earning  oc- 
cupations. 

The  changing  status  of  the  married  woman,  her  increasing 
economic  independence  and  its  bearing  upon  her  economic  re- 
sponsibility, are  all  facts  having  an  influence  upon  woman  as  a 
wage-earning  member  of  the  community,  but  how,  and  in  what 
degree,  they  affect  her  length  of  service,  is  still  quite  uncertain. 
It  is  probable  too,  that  they  affect  the  employment  or  non-em- 
ployment of  women  very  differently  in  different  occupations,  but 
how,  and  in  what  degre  they  do  so  is  mere  guess-work  at 
present. 

If  there  has  ever  been  voiced  a  tenderer  plea  for  a  universal 
education  that  shall  pass  by  no  child,  boy  or  girl,  than  that  of 


172  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

Stitt  Wilson,  former  Socialist  Mayor  of  Berkeley,  I  do  not  know 
it.  If  there  has  ever  been  outlined  a  finer  ideal  of  an  education 
fitting  the  child,  every  child,  to  take  his  place  and  fill  his  place 
in  the  new  world  opening  before  him,  I  have  not  heard  of  it. 
He  asks  that  we  shoui  1  submit  ourselves  to  the  leadership  of  the 
child — his  needs,  his  capacities,  his  ideal  hungers — and  in  so 
doing  we  shall  answer  many  of  the  most  disturbing  and  difficult 
problems  that  perplex  our  twentieth  century  civilization.  Even 
in  those  states  which  make  the  best  attempt  at  educating  their 
children,  from  three-fourths  to  nine-tenths,  according  to  the  lo- 
cality, leave  the  schools  at  the  age  of  thirteen  or  fourteen,  and 
the  present  quality  of  the  education  given  from  the  age  of  twelve 
to  sixteen  is  neither  an  enrichment  in  culture,  nor  a  training  for 
life  and  livelihood.  It  is  too  brief  for  culture,  and  is  not  in- 
tended for  vocation. 

Mr.  Wilson  makes  no  compromise  with  existing  conditions; 
concedes  not  one  point  to  the  second-rate  standards  that  we 
supinely  accept;  faces  the  question  of  cost,  that  basic  difficulty 
which  most  theoretical  educators  waive  aside,  and  which  the 
public  never  dreams  of  trying  to  meet  and  overcome.  Here  are 
some  of  his  proposals. 

The  New  Education  (he  writes)  will  include  training  and  experience  in 
domestic  science,  cookery  and  home-making;  agriculture  and  horticulture, 
pure  and  applied  science,  and  mechanical  and  commercial  activities  with 
actual  production,  distribution  and  exchange  of  commodities.  Such  training 
for  three  to  six  millions  of  both  sexes  from  the  age  of  twelve  to  twenty-one 
years  will  require  land,  tools,  buildings  of  various  types,  machinery,  fac- 
tory sites  by  rail  and  water,  timber,  water  and  power  sources. 

As  all  civilization  is  built  upon  the  back  of  labor,  and  as  all  culture  and 
leisure  rests  upon  labor,  and  is  not  possible  otherwise,  so  all  cultural  and 
liberal  education,  as  generally  understood,  shall  be  sequent  to  the  produc- 
tive and  vocational.  The  higher  intellectual  education  should  grow  out 
of  and  be  earned  by  productive  vocational  training. 

Hence  our  schools  should  be  surrounded  by  lands  of  the  best  quality 
obtainable,  plots  of  10,  50,  100  and  more  acres.  These  lands  should  be 
the  scene  of  labor  that  would  be  actually  productive  and  not  mere  play.  In 
such  a  school  the  moral  elements  of  labor  should  be  primary,  viz.:  joy  to 
the  producer,  through  industry  and  art;  perfect  honesty  in  quality  of  mate- 
rial and  character  of  workmanship;  social  cooperative,  mutualism  and  fel- 
lowship among  the  workers  or  students;  and  last,  but  not  least,  justice — 
that  is,  the  full  product  of  labor  being  secured  to  the  producer. 

He  plans  to  make  the  schools  largely  self-supporting,  partly 
through  land  endowments  easier  to  obtain  under  the  system  of 
taxation  of  land  values  that  is  possibly  near  at  hand  in  the 
Golden  State,  for  which  primarily  the  writer  is  planning.  The 
other  source  of  income  would  be  from  the  well-directed  labor 
of  the  students  themselves,  particularly  the  older  ones.  He  quotes 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  173 

Professor  Frank  Lawrence  Glynn,  of  the  Vocational  School  at 
Albany,  New  York,  as  having  found  that  the  average  youth  can, 
not  by  working  outside  of  school  hours,  but  in  the  actual  process 
of  getting  his  own  education,  earn  two  dollars  a  week  and  up- 
ward. Elsewhere,  Mr.  Wilson  shows  that  the  beginning  of  such 
schools  are  to  be  found  in  operation  today,  in  some  of  the  best 
reform  institutions  of  the  country. 


TRADE  AGREEMENTS  AND 
INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION1 

The  term  "trade  agreement"  is  applied  to  all  those  arrange- 
ments under  which  the  conditions  of  employment  are  governed 
by  an  agreement  made  between  an  employer  or  an  association  of 
employers  and  a  union  of  which  the  employees  are  members. 
Such  agreements  prevail  over  a  considerable  part  of  American 
industry.  Exactly  what  part  of  the  workmen  are  covered  by  the 
systems  of  trade  agreements  cannot  be  stated  since  no  census  has 
ever  been  taken.  The  nearest  approximation  is  the  number  of 
persons  who  are  organized  into  trade  unions.  Since  the  policy  of 
far  the  larger  part  of  American  trade  unions  is  to  replace  in- 
dividual bargaining  by  trade-  agreements,  the  number  of  trade 
unionists  tends  to  approach  the  number  of  those  covered  by  such 
agreements.  But  the  two  are  not  identical.  In  the  first  place,  a 
considerable  part  of  the  trade  unionists  are  working  in  establish- 
ments in  which  the  union  is  not  as  yet  able  to  establish  trade 
agreements.  In  some  unions  the  numbers  of  members  so  work- 
ing is  very  small,  so  that  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  the  entire 
membership  is  working  under  joint  agreements.  In  other  unions, 
where,  perhaps,  a  vigilant  and  hostile  employers'  association 
exists,  or  where  a  strike  has  recently  been  lost  with  the  dis- 
organization of  the  union  as  the  result,  the  number  of  members 
working  under  a  system  of  individual  bargaining  pure  and  sim- 
ple may  be  considerable.  On  the  other  hand,  in  a  number  of  in- 
dustries and  trades  where  the  union  shop  is  not  enforced,  but 
where  the  conditions  of  employment  are  set  by  trade  agreement, 

1  By  George  E.  Barnett,  Professor  of  Statistics,  Johns  Hopkins  Univer- 
sity. National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education.  Pro- 
ceedings. 1916:347-61. 


174  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

the  number  of  trade  unionists  is  less  than  the  number  of  per- 
sons working  under  trade  agreement.  A  striking  illustration  of 
this  case  is  found  in  the  anthracite  coal  industry.  Since  1906  the 
conditions  of  employment  in  this  industry  have  been  fixed  by 
agreement  between  the  representatives  of  the  operators  and  of 
the  workmen  who  are  elected  by  the  union,  but  at  times  only  a 
small  proportion  of  the  workers  covered  by  the  agreement  have 
been  members  of  the  union. 

It  may,  therefore,  be  concluded,  that  although  some  joint 
agreements  cover  other  than  trade  unionists  and  although  some 
trade  unionists  are  not  working  under  joint  agreements,  the 
overlap  in  neither  case  is  great.  Since  also,  the  two  tend  to 
offset  each  other  it  may  be  further  concluded  that  the  number  of 
trade  unionists  is  an  approximate  measure  of  the  number  of 
persons  working  under  trade  agreements. 

According  to  the  calculations  made  for  the  United  States 
Commission  on  Industrial  Relations  by  Dr.  Leo  Wolman  there 
were  in  1910,  2,116,317  trade  unionists  in  this  country.  Of  these 
1,900,000  are  in  the  mining,  manufacturing,  building  and  trans- 
portation industries.  If  we  exclude  from  the  number  of  persons 
gainfully  employed  in  these  industries,  the  proprietary,  official 
and  supervisory  classes,  and  persons  under  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  the  percentage  of  trade  unionists  is  between  twenty  and 
twenty-five  per  cent.  At  first  thought,  the  number  of  trade 
unionists  might  appear  to  be  so  small  as  to  make  the  subject  of 
trade  agreements  in  their  connection  with  industrial  education 
one  of  slight  importance.  But  when  the  distribution  of  the  trade 
unionists  among  the  gainfully  employed  is  taken  into  account, 
the  matter  appears  in  a  different  light,  since  the  trade  unionists 
are  relatively  more  numerous  in  those  industries  and  occupations 
in  which  the  problems  of  industrial  education  are  more  impor- 
tant and  more  perplexing.  For  example,  according  to  Dr.  Wol- 
man's  calculations,  the  trade  unionists  in  the  printing  trades  con- 
stitute 34.3  per  cent  of  all  workers  10  years  of  age  and  over — 
certainly  not  less  than  40  per  cent  of  those  twenty-one  years  of 
age  and  over. 

Even  this  consideration  does  not  fully  sum  up  the  extent  of 
the  possible  relations  between  the  trade  agreement  and  industrial 
education  since  within  the  groups  of  'trades  it  is  almost  uni- 
formly true  that  the  more  highly  skilled  trades  are  more  fully 
organized.  Thus  although  in  the  building  trades  group  taken 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  175 

as  a  whole  only  16.2  per  cent  of  the  workers  are  organized, 
forty  per  cent  of  the  bricklayers  and  stone  masons  are  members 
of  the  union  of  their  trade.  Similar  proportions  in  the  extent  of 
organization  between  the  skilled  and  unskilled  are  found  in  prac- 
tically all  of  the  other  groups  of  trades.  It  may  be  regarded, 
that  trade-unionism  and  trade  agreements  prevail  far  more 
therefore,  as  generally  true,  although  with  certain  exceptions, 
largely  in  the  skilled  trades  than  in  the  unskilled.  It  is  equally 
true  that  the  problems  of  technical  instruction  are  relatively 
more  important  in  the  same  set  of  trades. 

Another  consideration  that  still  further  magnifies  the  possible 
relations  between  the  trade  agreement  and  industrial  education 
is  the  fact  that  trade  unionists  in  every  trade  are  more  numer- 
ous in  large  than  in  small  places.  For  example,  in  1910,  35  per 
cent  of  the  compositors,  linotypers  and  type  setters  in  the  United 
States  were  in  the  union,  but  a  very  much  higher  percentage  of 
these  workmen  living  in  cities  of  10,000  population  and  over 
were  organized.  Similarly,  although  only  forty  per  cent  of  the 
bricklayers  and  masons  in  the  United  States  were  organized  in 
1910,  a  far  larger  part  of  the  bricklayers  and  masons  living  in 
cities  of  10,600  population  and  over  were  members  of  the  union 
and  were  working  under  trade  agreements.  Since  industrial 
education  in  most  trades  can  be  organized  most  efficiently  and 
economically  in  the  larger  places,  it  follows  that  the  importance 
of  the  trade  agreement  in  its  relation  to  industrial  education 
is  greatly  enhanced  by  the  distribution  of  the  trade  unionists  as 
between  small  and  large  places. 

By  no  means  all  trade  agreements,  however,  contain  pro- 
visions concerning  the  training  of  workers.  The  unions  may 
roughly  be  classified  into  four  groups. 

(1)  The  unions  of  unskilled  Workers.     No  rules  regulating 
the  training  of  new  workers  are  found  in  the  trade  agreements 
in  these  trades  for  the  very  obvious  reason  that  the  beginner 
acquires  in  a  very  short  time  the  knowledge  necessary  for  the 
satisfactory  performance  of  his  work. 

(2)  The  unions  in  those  trades  in  which  the  "helper"  sys- 
tem is  recognized  as  the   appropriate  method  of  training  new 
workers.     Provision  for  the  training  of  helpers  has  been  com- 
paratively rare.     In  the  first  place,  in  many  trades  the  helpers 
have  been  unorganized  and  the  union  of  journeymen  has  not 
claimed  any  control  over  their  training.    In  the  second  place,  in 


i;6  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

many  trades,  the  necessary  skill  of  the  journeyman  can  be  ac- 
quired readily  by  every  helper. 

(3)  The  unions  in  those  trades  in  which  the  skill  and  knowl- 
edge necessary  for  a  journeyman  is  acquired  by  a  workman  per- 
forming an  allied,  but  distinct  kind  of  labor.     In  such  trades, 
the  two  classes  of  workmen  are  frequently  organized  in  separate 
unions,  and  the  more  highly  trained  class  of  workmen  do  not  as 
a  union  concern  themselves  with  the  training  of  the  class  below 
them. 

(4)  The  unions  in  those  trades  in  which  the  skill  of  the 
journeyman  is  acquired  by  a  considerable  period  of  training  in 
the  actual  work  of  the  trade.     In  such  unions  the  recruiting  of 
the  trade  has  been  given  most  attention,  and  the  trade  agree- 
ments in  these  trades  almost  uniformly  contain  provisions  relat- 
ing to  persons  who  are  learning  the  trade.     In  these  trades  a 
clear  distinction  is  drawn  between  those  who  are  learning  the 
trade  and  those  who  are  proficient.     Although  the  learners  may 
not  be  admitted  to  the  union  and  ordinarily  are  not,  the  union 
assumes  over  them  a  certain  authority.     The  number  of  such 
learners  is  limited,  the  term  they  shall  serve  is  prescribed,  and, 
perhaps,  the  character  of  their  work  is  regulated  by  the  terms  of 
the  agreement  made  by  the  union  and  the  employer. 

Obviously,  a  full  treatment  of  the  possibilities  of  trade  agree- 
ments and  industrial  education  would  require  discussion  of  at 
least  three  of  these  classes  of  unions.  For  example,  where  the 
learner  is  a  helper  and  is  organized  in  the  same  union  with  the 
journeymen,  the  union  might  ask  and  secure  the  insertion  in  its 
agreement  with  employers  of  a  provision  that  helpers  should 
attend  courses  in  a  trade  school  as  a  condition  of  promotion  to 
the  grade  of  journeyman.  It  will  be  admitted,  however,  that 
at  the  present  juncture,  these  classes  of  trades  are  not  the  most 
important  in  their  relation  to  industrial  education.  I  shall,  there- 
fore, confine  myself  to  trade  agreements  in  that  class  of  trades 
in  which  it  is  admitted  by  both  parties  to  the  agreement  that  a 
lengthy  course  of  training  is  necessary  to  acquire  proficiency  in 
the  trade.  Such  a  class  of  learners  are  ordinarily  known  as  ap- 
prentices. The  economic  characteristics  of  the  apprentice  are, 
on  the  one  hand,  as  distinguishing  him  from  persons  preparing 
to  enter  less  skilled  trades,  the  length  of  the  period  of  training, 
and  on  the  other  hand,  as  distinguishing  him  from  the  helper, 
the  fact  that  he  is  less  proficient  at  the  particular  work  on  which 
he  is  engaged  than  a  fully  trained  workman. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  177 

Wherever,  therefore,  apprenticeship,  using  the  word  in  its 
broadest  sense,  exists,  the  idea  of  learning  is  also  dominantly 
present.  The  helper  learns,  but  learning  is  not  the  essence  of 
his  employment.  He  has  an  independent  reason  for  existence. 
Even  if  locomotive  engineers  were  recruited  entirely  from  shop 
men,  there  must  be  firemen.  The  apprentice,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  doing  or  should  be  doing,  for  the  greater  part  of  his  appren- 
ticeship, work  which  is  identical  with  that  done  by  the  skilled 
workmen  in  the  same  shop. 

The  greater  part  of  the  American  trade  unions  provide  in 
their  trade  agreements  for  the  regulation  of  apprenticeship.  In 
1905  Professor  Motley  found  in  his  survey  of  "Apprenticeship 
in  American  Trade  Unions"  that  seventy  of  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  unions  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
had  apprenticeship  rules :  The  membership  of  these  unions  was 
900,000  as  against  a  membership  of  750,000  in  the  unions  which 
did  not  attempt  to  maintain  apprenticeship  systems.  I  am  not 
acquainted  with  any  more  recent  attempt  to  survey  the  field,  but 
it  is  certain  that  the  proportion  is  not  greatly  different  at  present. 

In  the  greater  part,  if  not  in  all  of  the  trades  in  which  ap- 
prenticeship remains  the  recognized  method  of  entrance  to  the 
trade,  complaints  are  constantly  being  made  that  the  apprentice 
does  not  thoroughly  master  the  trade.  In  this  company  I  need 
only  briefly  recall  to  attention  the  causes  of  this  failure,  since 
the  matter  has  formed  the  staple  of  many  Surveys.  In  the  first 
place,  with  the  increasing  size  of  the  shop,  specialization  has 
become  the  mark  of  a  well  organized  plant.  The  apprentice  is, 
therefore,  most  conveniently  and  profitably  disposed  of  by  allow- 
ing him  to  follow  some  one  operation.  The  result  is  that  at  the 
end  of  his  apprenticeship  he  is  proficient  in  only  a  small  part  of 
the  trade.  Secondly,  with  the  increasing  size  of  the  shop  and  the 
high  specialization,  the  apprentice  receives  little  instruction. 
Thirdly,  in  a  considerable  number  of  trades  the  advancing  tech- 
nique requires  that  the  apprentice  shall  have  instruction  of  a* 
kind  which  can  not  be  furnished  in  the  shop,  since  the  knowledge 
required  can  only  be  gained  by  formal  instruction. 

The  trade  unions  and  the  employers'  associations  are  well 
aware  of  these  defects  in  the  present  system  of  apprenticeship. 
No  subject  is  more  ardently  debated  in  their  annual  meetings; 
their  committees  of  inquiry  are  constantly  reporting  on  plans  for 
improvement.  Until  recently  the  outcome  of  their  deliberations 
in  nearly  all  the  trades  concerned  was  monotonously  the  same. 


i;8  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

On  the  one  side,  the  trade  union  was  convinced  that  the  real 
obstacle  was  that  the  apprentice  was  not  given  an  opportunity 
to  learn  all  the  different  parts  of  the  trade.  The  result  of  this 
conviction  was  the  insertion  in  the  trade  union  rules  and  later 
in  agreements  with  employers  of  a  more  or  less  detailed  scheme 
of  apprentice  progression.  On  the  other  hand,  the  employers 
have  been  of  the  opinion  that  it  was  important  to  rouse  the  sense 
of  responsibility  of  the  individual  employer.  In  more  recent 
years,  the  unions  and  employers  have  become  convinced  that  even 
the  most  elaborate  schemes  of  progression,  and  the  keenest  in- 
terest of  some  individual  employers  will  fail,  in  many  trades,  to 
secure  the  proper  training  of  the  apprentice.  More  and  more 
both  sides  have  come  to  ask  whether  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
supplement  the  training  of  the  apprentice  either  by  instruction 
concurrent  with  work  in  an  employer's  shop  or  by  an  initiatory 
period  of  full-time  instruction. 

Since  the  questions  raised  are  somewhat  different,  it  will  be 
convenient  to  consider  first  the  case  of  provision  in  the  trade 
agreement  for  supplemental  instruction  concurrent  with  work  in 
an  employer's  shop,  e.g.  attendance  on  evening  school,  part  time 
instruction,  and  dull  season  classes.  What  are  the  advantages  of 
the  trade  agreement  as  a  method  of  securing  the  addition  of 
training  of  this  kind.  There  are  two  other  conceivable  methods 
of  introducing  such  supplemental  training.  The  matter  may  be 
left  to  the  initiative  of  the  apprentice  or  to  the  pressure  of  the 
individual  employer.  The  chief  advantage  of  provision  in  the 
trade  agreement  over  either  of  the  other  methods  is  that  only  by 
trade  agreement  can  the  attendance  of  all  apprentices  in  union 
shops  be  secured.  Moreover,  where  the  time  for  instruction  is  in 
part  or  wholly  in  working  hours,  it  is  only  by  trade  agreements 
that  there  can  be  any  certainty  that  all  employers  covered  by  the 
agreement  will  make  the  necessary  allowances  of  time.  The  argu- 
ment for  the  compulsory  attendance  of  apprentices  rests  on  much 
-the  same  basis  as  the  argument  for  compulsory  education.  Just 
as  the  state  requires  attendance  upon  school,  so  the  trade  through 
its  organs  of  government  requires  that  apprentices  shall  attend 
evening  school  or  dull-season  school.  The  only  force  which  can 
thus  render  supplemental  trade  education  compulsory  is  the  trade 
agreement.  Ordinarily  the  employer's  association  acting  alone 
cannot  enforce  such  a  rule  upon  its  members.  If  such  education 
is  not  compulsory,  the  usual  experience  has  been  that  a  number 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  179 

of  apprentices  will  neglect  the  opportunity  and  that  employers  in 
many  cases  will  not  require  attendance.  There  will  always  be 
some  who  contend  that  the  value  of  instruction  is  greater  when 
it  is  sought.  When  it  is  remembered  that  apprentices  are  ordi- 
narily only  from  sixteen  to  twenty  years  of  age,  we  shall  prob- 
ably not  value  this  argument  more  highly  than  we  do  the  argu- 
ment of  those  who  on  similar  grounds  protest  against  compul- 
sory education  laws. 

There  is  another  important  advantage  in  making  such  supple- 
mental instruction  compulsory.  In  many  cases,  the  employers 
must  either  pay  part  of  the  cost  of  instruction  or  make  some 
readjustment  of  shop  organization  which  involves  expense.  It 
is  by  no  means  certain  that  this  expense  will  be  recouped  en- 
tirely by  the  improved  efficiency  of  the  apprentice  during  the 
apprenticeship  period.  He  may  be  a  more  proficient  journeyman, 
but  the  employer  cannot  be  sure  of  retaining  his  services  as  a 
journeyman.  If,  however,  the  rule  extends  over  the  trade  so 
that  all  apprentices  are  receiving  proper  supplemental  instruc- 
tion, the  employer  has  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  not  simply 
that  his  apprentices  are  being  taught  properly  but  that  the  whole 
body  of  apprentices  is  being  well  taught.  Even  though  his  own 
apprentices  leave  him  when  their  apprenticeship  is  completed,  he 
can  secure  equally  well  trained  men  from  the  general  supply.  In 
this  as  in  other  matters  relating  to  the  instruction  of  the  appren- 
tice, it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  individual  employer, 
unless  working  under  very  exceptional  circumstances,  cannot  be 
expected  to  do  his  part  unless  other  employers  are  required  to  do 
theirs.  The  instruction  of  apprentices  is  a  trade  matter.  It 
seems  useless  to  attempt  to  improve  conditions  merely  by  appeal- 
ing to  the  individual  employer's  interest  in  his  own  apprentices. 
Why  should  he  bear  a  burden  which  should  be  carried  equally 
by  all  employers?  The  only  device  by  which  all  employers,  at 
least  all  union  employers,  can  be  made  to  give  the  necessary 
instruction  is  by  trade  agreement. 

A  further  advantage  of  supplemental  instruction  of  this  kind 
should  be  a  better  formulation  and  enforcement  of  the  rules  for 
apprentice  progression  now  found  in  a  considerable  number  of 
trade  agreements.  In  most  trades,  it  is  regarded  as  necessary 
that  the  apprentice  should  be  moved  from  one  position  to  an- 
other in  the  shop,  if  he  is  to  develop  into  a  proficient  workman. 
In  several,  if  not  all  of  the  trades  in  which  schemes  of  progres- 


i8o  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

sion  have  been  embodied  in  trade  agreements  complaint  is  made 
that  they  are  not  generally  enforced.  The  reason  seems  to  be 
that  the  enforcement  of  such  schemes  is  and  must  be  through 
shop  committees.  In  some  small  shops,  there  are  no  committees ; 
in  others,  the  committees  are  lax  in  insisting  on  the  carrying  out 
of  the  schemes.  Some  of  this  laxity  is  attributable  to  the  fact 
that  the  schemes  themselves  are  only  loosely  sketched  and  do  not 
commend  themselves  to  the  judgment  of  the  employers  and 
workmen.  Moreover,  there  appears  frequently  to  be  objection  on 
the  part  of  the  apprentice  to  being  transferred  from  a  process 
with  which  he  has  become  familiar  to  a  new  one. 

Supplemental  instruction  if  made  compulsory  by  trade  agree- 
ment would  necessarily  be  correlated  to  some  extent  with  the 
work  of  the  apprentices.  It  would  follow  that  pressure  of  a  very 
persistent  and  effective  kind  would  be  exerted  on  those  em- 
ployers who  failed  to  afford  their  apprentices  the  necessary  pro- 
gression of  work.  The  present  decentralized  administration  of 
the  rule  would  be  supplemented  by  a  centralized  oversight 
through  the  officers  of  instruction  and  the  joint  committee  of 
employers  and  workmen  in  charge  of  instruction.  Moreover, 
the  reluctance  of  the  apprentice  to  take  up  new  branches  of 
work  would  disappear  if  the  supplemental  instruction  inspired 
him  with  the  ambition  to  become  a  proficient  and  well  rounded 
workman. 

Finally,  the  incorporation  of  provision  for  supplemental  in- 
struction in  trade  agreements  should  react  favorably  on  the  char- 
acter of  the  instruction.  The  danger  which  appears  to  beset  in- 
dustrial education,  perhaps  in  peculiar  degree,  is  that  it  may 
become  remote  from  the  needs  of  the  student.  Where  supple- 
mental instruction  is  required  for  every  apprentice,  the  instruc- 
tion becomes  a  regular  part  of  the  trade  equipment.  Conse- 
quently, the  character  of  the  course;  is  constantly  under  the 
supervision  of  the  parties  to  the  trade  agreement. 

There  is,  apparently,  a  widespread  desire  in  a  number  of 
trades  that  provision  should  be  made  for  supplemental,  concur- 
rent instruction.  It  is  easy  to  understand  why  the  trade  unions 
and  employers  welcome  provision  for  such  instruction.  The  in- 
efficient workman  is  a  heavy  charge  upon  the  cost  of  production. 
The  union  as  representing  the  interests  of  the  workmen  in  the 
trade  not  merely  in  the  present  but  also  in  the  future  has  the 
strongest  incentive  to  aid  in  making  provision  for  increasing  the 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  181 

personal  efficiency  of  its  members.  It  is  unnecessary  to  dilate 
upon  these  general  advantages,  but  there  is  one  advantage  of  such 
instruction  which  is  peculiar  to  organized  workmen  and  their 
employers.  Since  trade  agreements  are  made  by  unions  and  em- 
ployers of  union  men,  this  advantage  is  important  in  considering 
the  possibilities  of  the  trade  agreement  in  its  relation  to  industrial 
education. 

The  prime  purpose  of  every  trade  union  is  to  improve  the 
conditions  of  employment  in  the  trade  and  chief  among  the  con- 
ditions of  employment  is  the  rate  of  wages.  The  device  which 
the  union  employs  to  raise  wages  is  collective  bargaining.  There 
are  two  form  of  collective  bargaining :  the  union  may  through  its 
officers  assume  control  of  the  bargain  by  which  the  labor  of  each 
of  its  members  is  sold  r  id  itself  make  the  bargain  for  the  mem- 
ber as  an  individual  contract,  or,  secondly,  the  union  may  fix 
upon  some  general  rate  of  wage  applicable  to  all  of  its  members 
or  to  a  class  of  its  members.  It  is  only  in  rare  cases  that  the 
union  can  apply  the  first  method ;  it  cannot  put  one  price  on  A 
and  another  on  B  according  to  some  rough  measurement  of  their 
efficiency.  The  unions,  therefore,  set  some  general  or  standard 
rate.  In  the  piece  working  trades  such  a  standard  rate  affords  a 
practicable  measure  of  the  labor  of  the  members.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  the  earliest  and  even  yet  some  of  the  strongest 
unions  are  in  the  piece-working  trades.  Piece  work  in  some 
trades  has  disadvantages  but  it  has  everywhere  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  union  this  one  great  advantage — every  member  of 
the  union  is  equally  interested  in  the  standard  rate.  An  increase 
in  the  rate  goes  equally  to  every  workman. 

Even  among  time  workers  many  unions  find  little  or  no  diffi- 
culty in  establishing  a  satisfactory  measure  for  labor.  In  many 
unskilled  trades,  even  under  individual  bargaining,  differences  in 
efficiency  are  so  slight  that  all  the  workmen  engaged  are  paid  at 
the  same  rate  per  day.  But  this  will  ordinarily  occur  only  in 
relatively  unskilled  employment.  In  the  skilled  trades,  and  it  is 
to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  problem  of  technical  instruction 
occurs  primarily  in  the  skilled  trades,  the  distribution  of  effi- 
ciency is  frequently  very  wide.  In  such  trades,  the  only  stand- 
ard rate  which  it  is  practicable  to  establish  is  a  minimum.  But 
here  a  difficulty  presents  itself.  If  the  minimum  is  put  high  a 
certain  part  of  the  workers  will  be  unable  to  secure  the  mini- 
mum. On  the  other  hand,  if  the  minimum  is  placed  low,  it  loses 


182  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

its  efficacy  as  a  bargaining  device  for  the  labor  of  a  considerable 
part  of  the  members.  What  the  union  actually  does  in  nearly 
all  cases  is  to  put  the  minimum  wage  high  enough  to  lend  sup- 
port to  the  wages  of  the  great  mass  of  its  members.  What  be- 
comes of  the  inferior  workmen  when  the  minimum  is  placed 
high?  In  a  few  unions  where  the  control  of  the  trade  is  strong 
the  employer  who  wishes  a  man  is  required  to  take  him  from  a 
list  on  which  the  men  are  registered  in  the  order  of  their  falling 
out  of  employment.  This  device  keeps  in  employment  the  infe- 
rior man  at  a  wage  much  higher  than  he  is  relatively  entitled  to. 
Failing  the  adoption  of  such  a  "waiting  list,"  the  inefficient  man 
either  seeks  work  in  a  non-union  shop  or  becomes  a  casual 
worker  in  the  union  shops.  Taken  on  in  busy  seasons,  he  is  dis- 
charged as  soon  as  a  more  efficient  man  can  be  found.  In  either 
case,  he  becomes  a  serious  problem  for  the  union. 

Inefficiency  is  chargeable  to  a  variety  of  causes,  but  two  stand 
out  prominently — natural  incapacity  for  the  trade  and  lack  of 
proper  training.  The  establishment  by  joint  trade  agreement  of 
a  system  of  compulsory  supplemental  training  would  greatly  re- 
duce in  every  skilled  trade  the  number  of  inefficients.  In  the 
first  place,  those  who  were  by  natural  incapacity  unfit  for  the 
trade  would  be  excluded  to  an  extent  which  is  now  impracticable. 
In  many  trades,  the  agreements  now  provide  for  a  probationary 
period.  If  after  three  or  six  months  the  apprentice  is  found  to 
be  unsuited  to  the  trade,  he  is  to  be  excluded.  These  rules  have 
not  been  found  to  work  well.  The  administration  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  shop  committee  and  as  has  been  noted  above  this  form  of 
administration  is  ineffective.  Moreover,  the  work  of  the  appren- 
tice in  his  first  few  months  of  shop  work  is  not  ordinarily  of 
such  a  kind  as  to  afford  an  adequate  test  of  his  capacity.  It  may 
be  expected  that  where  compulsory  supplemental  training  is 
instituted  a  conference  will  be  held  by  the  employer,  the  shop 
committee  and  the  instructors  as  to  the  capacity  of  the  apprentice 
at  the  end  of  the  probationary  period.  The  supplemental  work 
may  during  the  probationary  period  be  directed  especially  to 
testing  the  capacity  of  the  youth.  In  the  second  place,  the  im- 
proved training  would  reduce  the  number  of  those  who  are  ineffi- 
cient because  they  lack  proper  grounding  in  the  elements  of  the 
trade.  There  would  still  be  differences  in  efficiency  due  to  differ- 
ences in  capacity,  but  the  spread  of  the  efficiency  distribution 
would  be  greatly  narrowed  and  the  problem  of  organizing  the 
trade  would  be  enormously  lessened. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  183 

If  we  turn  now  from  supplemental,  concurrent  instruction  to 
initiatory  and  preparatory  instruction,  the  use  of  the  trade  agree- 
ment up  to  the  present  has  been  less  frequent.  There  are  four 
reasons  advanced  for  making  such  instruction  a  part  of  the  train- 
ing of  the  apprentice : 

(1)  The  trade  as  practised  in  all  except  the  smallest  shops 
is  split  up  into  a  number  of  specialties.     If  the  apprentice  is  to 
receive  a  grounding  in  the  trade  as  a  whole,  this  must  be  given 
him  apart  from  the  actual  work  of  industry. 

(2)  In  a  number  of  trades,  the  age  at  which  the  apprentice 
can  begin  work  is  higher  than  the  age  at  which  many  pupils  leave 
school.    As  a  result,  apprenticeship  does  not  follow  immediately 
upon  schooling.  The  two  or  three  years  spent  in  juvenile  employ- 
ment leaves  the  youth  on  entering  the  trade  less  receptive  to 
formal  instruction  than  he  would  have  been  at  the  time  he  left 
school. 

(3)  Even  if  the  apprentice  remains  in  school  until  the  time 
of  actually  beginning  his  apprenticeship,  it  is  felt  that  the  last 
year  or  two  of  his  school  life  can  most  profitably  be  spent  in 
preparing  for  his  trade  career. 

(4)  The  reluctance  of  many  employers  to  take  apprentices 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  their  work  in  the  earlier  part  of  their 
apprenticeship  is  unprofitable.    If  the  apprentice  had  the  training 
of  an  initiatory  year  or  two  years  he  would  be  capable  of  earn- 
ing his  wage,  and  employers  would  be  willing  to  have  apprentices. 

Naturally  these  factors  vary  in  importance  in  different  trades, 
but  it  appears  to  be  generally  admitted  that  in  certain  trades  an 
initiatory  period  of  instruction  is  desirable.  The  question  then 
emerges  how  far  the  trade  acting  through  a  trade  agreement  will 
be  willing  to  offer  inducements  to  the  apprentice  to  pass  through 
this  initiatory  period.  Three  forms  of  encouragement  are  sug- 
gested: (i)  It  may  be  provided  that  youths  who  have  passed 
through  the  initiatory  period  shall  receive  a  wage  equal  to  or 
higher  than  that  they  would  have  received  if  they  had  come  up 
through  the  shop.  (2)  It  may  be  provided  that  the  employers 
shall  give  the  preference  to  such  youths  when  taking  on  appren- 
tices. (3)  It  may  be  provided  that  the  time  of  apprenticeship 
shall  be  shortened  by  an  allowance  for  the  time  spent  in  the  pre- 
paratory trade  school. 

The  advantages  of  the  initiatory  period  of  instruction  are 
of  much  the  same  kind  as  those  enumerated  above  as  attaching 
to  supplemental  concurrent  instruction.  The  standardization  of 


184  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

the  workman  through  better  training  and  the  elimination  of  those 
unsuited  to  the  trade  would  be  attained  in  even  higher  degree. 
Moreover,  the  inducements  which  it  is  proposed  to  hold  out  to 
youths  in  order  to  induce  them  to  follow  the  initiatory  course 
of  instruction  appear  unobjectionable.  In  a  small  but  dwindling 
number  of  trades  the  ancient  right  of  a  father  to  apprentice  a 
son  to  his  own  trade  still  persists.  The  provision  that  youths  who 
have  taken  the  initiatory  course  should  have  preference  for  ap- 
prenticeship conflicts  with  that  right,  but  patrimonial  apprentice- 
ship has  fallen  so  much  into  disuse  that  no  great  objection  is 
likely  to  be  made  on  that  score. 

The  difficulty  lies  not  in  the  character  of  the  concessions 
necessary  to  secure  the  attendance  of  youths  in  the  initiatory 
school,  but  in  the  fear  that  an  attempt  is  being  made  to  replace 
apprenticeship  as  the  method  of  entrance  to  the  trade.  The  union 
and  to  some  extent  the  employers  may  ask  whether  the  training 
afforded  by  the  period  of  initiatory  instruction  will  serve  not 
simply  as  supplementary  to  apprenticeship,  but  also  as  an  entirely 
new  means  of  entrance  to  the  trade.  The  reluctance  to  relinquish 
apprenticeship  is  not  confined  to  the  unions.  In  a  recent  report 
of  the  Commission  on  Vocational  Training  of  the  International 
Typographical  Union,  Dr.  F.  W.  Hamilton,  national  apprentice 
director  of  the  United  Typothetae  of  America,  is  quoted  as 
writing : 

We  have  endeavored  wherever  possible  to  spread  sound  ideas  as  to  the 
principles  and  methods  of  industrial  education,  urging  everywhere  the  es- 
tablishment of  continuation  work  for  printers'  apprentices  in  the  public 
schools  and  discouraging  in  so  far  as  we  were  able  to  do  so  the  establish- 
ment of  vocational  schools  of  printing  in  the  public  schools.  In  cases  where 
such  work  was  well  established  in  the  public  schools  and  changes  did  not 
seem  practicable,  we  have  endeavored  to  put  the  schools  in  such  relations  to 
the  industry  that  the  work  should  be  done  in  the  most  workmanlike  manner 
possible  and  that  an  easy  way  should  be  provided  for  the  boys  who  have 
done  well  in  the  schools  to  find  proper  places  in  the  shops.  ...  It  [The 
Typothetae  Committee]  holds  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  industry  (i)  to 
select  the  boy,  (2)  to  see  about  his  training.  It  sees  no  other  way  in  which 
a  proper  adjustment  may  be  made  between  the  boys  who  are  being  trained 
and  the  industry  itself  so  that  the  number  of  boys  who  are  being  trained 
shall  not  exceed  the  number  who  can  find  employment  in  the  industry.  .  .  . 
A  method  which  begins  with  the  boy  irrespective  of  the  industry,  attempts 
to  teach  him  printing  and  then  leaves  him  to  find  a  place  if  he  can  is  fair 
neither  to  the  boy,  to  the  public,  nor  to  the  industry  itself. 

In  the  same  letter,  Dr.  Hamilton  mentions  as  one  of  the  plans 
for  apprentice  training  encouraged  by  his  committee: 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  185 

Schools  supported  by  a  group  of  printers  in  which  the  boy  puts  in  the 
first  year  in  intensive  practical  work  under  the  direction  of  a  competent 
teacher  and  then  goes  out  into  the  shop  to  finish  his  apprenticeship  under 
the  teacher's  observation. 

In  brief,  then,  the  unions  and  to  some  extent  employers  ap- 
prove of  initiatory  instruction  only  on  condition  that  it  is  tied 
firmly  to  the  apprenticeship  system.  For  example,  it  is  hardly 
conceivable  that  a  union  would  object  to  a  school  maintained 
jointly  by  the  union  and  the  employers  in  which  training  was 
given  to  apprentices  already  allotted  to  particular  shops,  although 
as  yet  not  at  work  in  the  shops. 

But  let  us  assume  that  initiatory  training  for  the  trade  is 
offered  by  a  public  school  to  any  one  who  chooses  to  take  up  the 
particular  line  irrespective  of  the  opportunities  for  apprentice- 
ship. A  union  which  completely  controls  the  trade  will  face  this 
problem  without  much  misgiving  since  it  can  exclude  such  per- 
sons from  the  trade  or  from  opportunity  to  complete  their  train- 
ing; it  will  not  concern  itself  with  opposing  such  forms  of  voca- 
tional training.  It  may  even  agree  to  allow  such  persons  as  are 
taken  on  as  apprentices  a  certain  amount  of  credit  for  the  voca- 
tional training.  A  weaker  union  might  hesitate  through  fear  that 
the  entire  system  of  entrance  of  apprenticeship  may  break  down. 
It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  there  are  important  advantages  in  en- 
trance by  apprenticeship.  In  the  first  place,  if  there  are  no  re- 
strictions on  the  number  of  apprentices  the  supply  of  new 
workers  entering  the  trade  is  proportioned  to  the  needs  of  the 
trade  far  more  exactly  than  can  be  accomplished  where  training 
for  the  trade  is  divorced  from  industry.  Except  in  those  indus- 
tries where  boy  labor  is  profitable  an  employer  takes  on  a  new 
apprentice  only  because  he  needs  additional  skilled  labor.  When 
the  industry  is  expanding,  the  apprentices  increase;  when  it  is 
stationary,  the  number  of  apprentices  falls  off.  Through  appren- 
ticeship the  trade  draws  to  itself  the  necessary  supply.  There 
are  other  advantages :  The  cost  of  training  is  less.  The  poorer 
boy  who  cannot  afford  the  time  to  learn  a  trade  by  school  in- 
struction, can  earn  something  while  learning. 

It  is  conceivable  that  a  union  might  reject  proposals  to  aid 
a  system  of  initiatory  training  because  it  desired  to  maintain 
apprenticeship.  But  it  is  probably  not  the  fear  that  such  a  system 
would  destroy  the  apprenticeship  system  root  and  branch  that 
bulks  largest  in  the  opposition.  Connected  with  the  system  of 


i86  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

apprenticeship  in  practically  all  unions  which  recognize  appren- 
ticeship as  the  normal  method  of  entrance  to  the  trade  is  some 
limitation  on  the  number  of  apprentices.  It  is  feared  by  some 
trade  unionists  that  by  the  inauguration  of  a  system  of  initiatory 
training,  the  number  of  apprentices  will  be  increased  and  the 
trade  will  be  overcrowded.  The  limitations  on  the  number  of 
apprentices  have  other  purposes  than  restriction  of  the  number 
of  journeymen.  In  some  trades,  for  example,  the  relative  num- 
bers of  apprentices  allotted  respectively  to  large  and  small  shops 
are  assumed  to  bear  a  relation  to  the  facilities  for  training  ap- 
prentices. But  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  limitations  are 
regarded  chiefly  as  a  protection  against  overcrowding  the  trade. 

Obviously  the  validity  of  this  objection  rests  on  the  assump- 
tion that  the  present  rules  do  restrict  the  number  entering  the 
trade.  There  are  certain  trades  in  which  the  number  of  persons 
entering  is  limited  by  apprenticeship  regulation,  but,  the  effect  of 
apprenticeship  rules  on  the  number  entering  any  one  of  the  im- 
portant trades  must  be  very  small.  When  one  considers,  for 
example,  that  the  carpenters  or  printers  admit  constantly  any 
workman  who  can  get  the  minimum  rate  and  that  at  least  one- 
half  the  shops  in  the  country  are  non-union,  it  can  hardly  be 
contended  that  the  enforcement  of  the  apprenticeship  ratio  affects 
materially  the  total  number  entering  the  trade.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  in  the  greater  part  of  the  trades  maintaining  entrance  by 
apprenticeship,  the  union  shops  have  less  apprentices  than  the 
rules  allow  them,  and  the  number  of  apprentices  is  less  than  suffi- 
cient to  recruit  the  workmen  needed  for  the  union  offices.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  the  union  is  especially  strong  in  the  larger 
shops  and  in  the  larger  cities.  Here  the  trade  is  more  specialized 
and  the  advantages  at  present  to  the  apprentice  and  to  the  em- 
ployer are  both  less  than  in  the  smaller  shop.  The  constant 
recruiting  of  the  union  from  the  non-union  shop  means,  of 
course,  a  constant  effort  on  the  part  of  the  union  to  absorb  new 
material. 

It  is  assumed  by  those  who  oppose  initiatory  training  that  by 
its  introduction  the  employer  would  be  more  willing  to  take  on 
apprentices  and  more  boys  would  be  willing  to  learn  the  trade. 
What  result  might  reasonably  be  expected?  Would  it  not  simply 
be  that  the  men  needed  for  the  union  offices  would  be  trained 
there  and  the  men  trained  in  non-union  offices  would  be  left  there 
instead  of  being  steadily  drawn  away,  thus  making  it  necessary 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  187 

for  the  non-union  offices  to  train  up  new  workmen?  The  chief 
change  would  not  be  in  the  total  number  of  apprentices  but  in 
the  place  of  their  training.  In  such  trades  as  these  a  careful  can- 
vass of  the  situation  would  probably  convince  the  union  that  it 
would  be  advantageous  to  favor  as  far  as  possible  any  plan  which 
would  stimulate  apprenticeship  in  union  shops  even  if  the  limita- 
tions on  the  number  of  apprentices  were  relaxed  or  abandoned. 


THE  CO-OPERATIVE  SYSTEM  OF 
INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING1 

If  industrial  education  means  a  re-directing  and  adapting  of 
our  education  to  fit  the  economic  and  social  needs  of  our  people, 
then  it  is  a  problem  which  has  no  single  solution.  There  will  be 
as  many  school  classifications  as  there  are  groups  of  industries, 
nearly  as  many  solutions  as  there  are  types  of  communities,  and 
there  is  no  single  inflexible  course  of  study  nor  a  single  line  of 
procedure. 

The  rapid  development  of  the  manufacturing  interests  of  our 
country  during  the  past  decade,  particularly  in  the  metal-working 
lines,  has  increased  the  problem  of  finding  an  adequate  supply 
of  labor  and  of  a  proper  degre  of  efficiency.  The  modern  sys- 
tem of  production  has  had  much  to  do  with  such  conditions.  The 
absence  of  a  definite  system  of  factory  training  has  its  share  of 
the  responsibility. 

Meanwhile,  the  public  school  desires  to  hold  its  pupils,  but 
youth  wants  to  earn  money,  and  parents  ask  the  eternal  question, 
"What  shall  we  do  for  our  boy?"  The  mother  sees  that  if  her 
boy  goes  to  work  in  the  average  factory  he  is  likely  to  fail  in 
learning  a  trade,  while  it  is  almost  positive  that  he  will  shut  the 
door  against  that  further  liberal  education  which  he  might  get 
in  the  high  school. 

Now,  let  us  imagine  that  the  boy  is  able  to  say,  "Father,  the 
problem  is  solved.  The  co-operative  school  is  about  to  be  opened. 
In  it  I  will  become  a  skillful  machinist,  able  to  earn  more  than  a 
living  immediately  upon  graduation,  and  I  will  also  have  all  the 
benefits  of  a  high  school  education  at  the  same  time." 

1  From  article  by  A.  D.  Dean.  National  Education  Association.  Pro- 
ceedings 1910:612-16. 


i88  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

The  fundamental  principle  of  the  co-operative  system  is  very 
simple.  In  brief,  it  is  this:  The  technique  or  the  practical  side 
of  the  work  is  taught  only  in  a  shop  or  store  which  is  working 
under  actual  commercial  conditions;  the  Science  underlying  the 
technique  is  taught  by  skilled  teachers  in  a  public  school. 

To  many  it  seems  feasible  so  to  organize  the  public  school 
system  that  it  will  be  capable  of  dealing  with  all  these  children — 
those  in  school  and  those  out  of  school.  It  would  seem  that  a 
solution  of  the  problem  would  be  some  system  of  co-operation 
between  the  schools  and  the  factories  for  training  those  young 
people  in  industrial  and  civic  efficiency  after  they  have  found 
their  work. 

There  are  well-defined  and  distinct  advantages  in  both  sys- 
tems of  industrial  training — co-operative  and  public  trade  school. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  for  partisans  on  either  side  to  overreach 
in  their  arguments.  The  real  issue  at  stake  is  not  whether  the 
co-operative  system  is  the  only  proper  system  of  training,  but, 
rather,  to  what  extent  each  system  can  find  its  proper  place  in 
American  education.  There  is  room  for  both,  and  an  analysis  of 
the  principles  involved  is  well  worth  while  at  this  point. 

Undoubtedly  the  co-operative  system  is  economical  from  the 
standpoint  of  school  equipment.  It  places  upon  the  taxpayer 
almost  no  burden  of  taxation,  as  the  existing  equipment  of  com- 
mercial shops  is  used.  It  is  obvious,  of  course,  that  trade  schools 
are  necessarily  somewhat  expensive.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
dental,  medical,  agricultural,  and  mechanic-arts  colleges.  But 
it  is  doubtful  if  the  public  will  be  willing  to  make  any  unjust 
discriminations  based  upon  financial  considerations  against  a 
necessary  and  proper  industrial  training  of  the  mass  of  our 
people  who  work  in  the  great  constructive  industries,  in  favor  of 
those  who  are  engaged  in  professional  work.  We  must  look  be- 
yond such  a  material  argument. 

It  is  claimed  that  educational  waste  will  be  avoided  in  the 
co-operative  system  by  using  foremen  in  the  shops  as  teachers  of 
shop-work  rather  than  teachers  specially  trained.  Who  can 
guarantee  that  they  will  make  good  teachers?  The  practical 
mechanic  without  pedagogical  training  may  be  able  to  impart  to 
the  student  the  mechanical  manipulations  of  his  trade,  but  if  he 
cannot  make  the  proper  connections  with  the  pedagogic  end  of 
his  work  he  will  be  deficient  to  that  extent. 

Another  point  in  favor  of  the  co-operative  system — one  which 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  189 

comes  under  the  head  of  educational  waste — refers  to  the  fallacy 
of  attempting  to  give  specific  trade  education  in  a  public  trade 
school  to  a  boy  of  sixteen  years  of  age  when  he  does  not  know 
what  trade  he  wants  to  learn,  or  when  he  can  hardly  afford  to 
spend  three  or  four  years  in  a  trade  school  without  compensa- 
tion. 

Another  weakness  of  the  public  trade  school  is  said  to  be  the 
break  in  the  continuity  of  systematic  mental  effort  which  will 
exist  between  the  period  at  which  the  boy  dropped  out  of  school 
at  fourteen  and  the  trade  school  period  when  the  boy  enters  it 
at  sixteen;  this  lack  of  continuity  forcing  the  trade  school  to 
gather  up  the  interrupted,  loose,  and  disorganized  threads  of 
mental  activity. 

If  the  advocates  of  the  co-operative  system  feel  that  they 
must  oppose  the  public-trade  school  movement  by  such  argu- 
ments, they  have  at  least  furnished  a  valuable  contribution  to- 
ward an  argument  for  vocational  training  between  fourteen  and 
sixteen.  Such  training  is  intended  to  arouse  a  set  of  industrial 
interests  which  will  require  specific  training  for  their  satisfac- 
tion ;  the  latter  training  to  be  given  in  the  trade  school,  open  to 
tpupils  who  are  sixteen  years  of  age,  or  in  the  shops  themselves. 

Open  to  boys  who  are  sixteen  years  of  age,  the  co-operative 
system  makes  one  strong  appeal.  It  gives  them  an  opportunity  ' 
of  earning  something.  They  are  earning  while  learning,  whereas 
under  the  trade  school  system  they  do  not  earn  until  they  have 
completed  their  trade  education.  The  co-operative  system  makes 
it  possible  for  a  child  to  continue  in  school,  whereas  now  he  is 
compelled  to  take  a  low-grade,  poorly  paid,  unskilled  position 
perhaps  without  any  future  prospects  either  in  money  or  the  ac- 
quirement of  skill. 

The  co-operative  system  will  naturally  serve  to  keep  the  busi- 
ness men  and  employers  in  constant  touch  with  the  public  school 
system  if  for  no  other  reason  than  the  selfish  incentive  to  get  the 
most  out  of  it  for  themselves.  Given  an  opportunity  to  co-ope- 
rate, it  is  expected  that  they  will  study  the  schools  with  their 
own  needs  in  mind,  and  as  one  result  they  may  possibly  become 
interested  and  aroused  enough  to  better  the  schools.  At  least 
there  can  be  co-ordination  between  the  school  instructor  and  the 
shop  force.  So  far,  in  carrying  out  the  co-operative  plan  in  the 
cities  that  have  tried  it,  the  instructors  have  been  acquainted  with 
the  local  shop  practice.  They  spend  part  of  the  time  in  the  shop 


IQO  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

and  part  of  the  time  in  the  school.  It  is  their  business  to  observe 
the  students  at  their  work,  to  study  the  shop  system  and  any 
other  matter  of  interest,  noticing  particularly  the  everyday  shop 
applications  of  the  various  sciences,  as  mathematics,  physics, 
chemistry  and  drawing. 

It  is  expected  that  the  co-operative  system  can  be  applied  not 
only  to  the  machine  trades  but  also  to  the  tailoring,  baking, 
butchering,  building  or  any  other  trade  where  the  mechanical 
equipment  or  natural  conditions  are  somewhat  different  from  the 
trades  which  have  already  adopted  it.  Already  a  department 
store  in  New  York  City  has  introduced  the  system.  Among 
other  things  the  salespeople  are  taught  psychology  and  salesman- 
ship, and  are  given  as  much  technical  knowledge  as  possible  of 
the  things  they  are  selling.  In  addition  they  receive  a  certain 
amount  of  general  education. 

In  many  instances  where  the  co-operative  system  is  employed 
there  is  an  apparent  one-sidedness  in  the  agreement  between  the 
apprentice  and  the  employer  which  it  appears  might  be  avoided. 
While  it  may  be  said  that  all  these  employers  are  men  of  known 
integrity,  on  the  other  hand  the  success  of  the  whole  scheme  de- 
pends entirely  on  their  doing  what  they  ought  to  do.  If  an 
agreement  is  necessary,  it  seems  as  if  the  employer  would  be  likely 
to  stand  in  much  better  light  with  the  public  if  he  also  was  under 
an  equal  bond  to  fulfill  some  definite  agreement.  Undoubtedly 
there  is  much  of  value  in  the  co-operative  scheme,  but  before  it 
can  have  general  indorsement,  the  public  must  be  assured  that 
the  plan  is  so  worked  out  that  it  results  in  all-round  training 
and  that  the  half-time  idea  does  not  become  a  half-way  scheme. 

The  pupils  that  are  merely  taken  into  the  shops  on  the  half- 
time  or  the  co-operative  plan,  may  not  receive  the  systematic  and 
progressive  advancement  in  learning  the  different  parts  of  the 
industry  that  is  desirable.  To  a  certain  extent,  the  pupils  may 
be  exploited  for  the  benefit  of  the  manufacturer,  for  the  money 
value  of  the  product  of  the  boy's  labor  often  seems  to  be  more 
determinative  to  the  manufacturer  than  the  pupil's  progress  in 
learning  the  trade.  On  the  other  hand,  in  a  public  trade  school 
where  the  work  is  not  carried  on  under  the  conditions  of  a  leal 
factory  it  may  be  impossible  for  the  pupil  to  attain  a  practical 
skill  and  efficiency  equal  to  that  of  a  good  workman  in  a  factory. 
Of  course  much  depends  on  the  way  the  school  is  conducted. 
Unless  the  method  of  instruction  in  the  school  is  different  from 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  191 

that  at  present  in  vogue  in  our  manual-training  schools,  the 
workman's  time  as  a  factor  in  the  cost  of  production  never  can 
be  sufficiently  demonstrated  to  a  pupil  where  his  presence  and 
wages  do  not  depend  upon  his  active  productive  ability.  Neither 
can  the  time  that  may  properly  be  used  and  the  skill  required 
for  the  different  operations  be  sufficiently  understood  by  the 
pupil  until  the  product  is  put  to  actual  commercial  use  and  the 
pupil  rewarded  for  his  work  in  proportion  to  his  perception  and 
adjustment  of  these  factors  of  production.  Perhaps  this  is  the 
strongest  argument  for  the  co-operative  plan. 

The  co-operative  plan  has  tremendous  advantages.  In  pre- 
senting it  I  have  endeavored  to  be  fair  to  both  the  public,  to  the 
school  and  the  so-called  "Cincinnati  scheme."  Certainly  the  plan 
is  worth  trying.  It  is  very  largely  based  upon  a  German  method. 
The  success  of  the  German  system  is  due  not  only  to  the 
fostering  care  of  a  central  government  but  in  a  large  measure 
to  social  and  economic  conditions  inherent  in  the  situation.  In 
that  country  it  is  taken  as  a  matter  of  course  that  employers  and 
schools  will  work  together  to  promote  thoro  industrial  training. 
In  such  an  atmosphere  the  co-operative  scheme  can  achieve  its 
highest  development.  In  America  conditions  are  different.  Em- 
ployers have  not  taken  up  to  the  present  time,  any  great  interest 
in  the  work  of  the  public  schools  except  to  criticise  them. 
Neither  have  schoolmen  taken  any  interest  in  the  labor  conditions 
in  our  industries.  Evidently  the  co-operative  system  offers  a 
means  of  getting  together.  But  if  the  school  authorities  adopt 
this  plan  simply  to  avoid  spending  public  money,  and  emplo3rers 
take  up  the  scheme  simply  to  throw  off  the  burden  of  responsi- 
bility of  obtaining  skilled  labor  upon  the  public  schools,  simply 
because  they  have  been  negligent  in  the  past  in  doing  what  may 
have  been  their  duty,  then  the  scheme  is  doomed  to  failure.  The 
co-operative  plan  must  get  beyond  selfish,  personal  motives  if  it 
is  to  be  a  part  of  an  American  system  of  education.  Primarily 
the  schools  are  managed  in  the  interests  of  their  boys  and  girls. 
I  would  not  dampen  the  ardor  of  those  that  favor  the  co-opera- 
tive system,  but  no  association  of  employers  can  be  allowed  to 
dictate  a  system  of  public  education  unless  it  be  along  lines  which 
are  of  direct  personal  advantage  to  the  boys  and  girls.  Then  it 
will  not  be  dictation,  but  co-operation,  and  that  we  all  welcome. 


192  SELECTED    ARTICLES 


CONTINUATION  SCHOOLS1 

There  are  two  propositions  upon  which  my  whole  argument 
depends.  These  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  state  possesses  no  higher  treasures  than  the  moral  and  intellec- 
tual powers  of  its  youth.     This  applies  to  all  classes  of  youth  whether  des- 
tined for  the  trades  or  the  professions.     As  the  Germans  say:   "No  nation 
can  take  and  sustain  a  prominent  place  in  the  modern  world  that  fails  to 
develop  and  utilize  the  powers  and  ability  latent  in  all  classes  of  its  people." 

2.  "No  boy  or  girl   ought  to  be  treated,"  as   Winston  Churchill   says, 
"merely  as  cheap  labor.     Up  to  eighteen  years  of  age  every  boy  and  girl  in 
the  country  school,  as  in  the  old  days  of  apprenticeship,  should  be  learning 
a  trade  (or  vocation),  as  well  as  earning  a  living."     No  person   should  be 
permitted  to  employ  the  boys  or  girls  during  these  formative  years  without 
assuming  some  responsibility  for  their  learning  a  vocation. 

I  expect  to  show  that  these  propositions  require  the  addition 
of  a  new  type  of  school  to  our  system. 

A  fundamental  defect  in  our  present  school  system  results 
from  our  custom  of  terminating  compulsory  school  education  at 
fourteen  years  of  age.  Everyone  will  admit  that  this  is  too  early. 
We  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  public  schools  on  the  ground 
that  they  are  necessary  to  the  perpetuation  of  our  free  institu- 
tions. We  urge  that  a  certain  minimum  of  instruction  and  train- 
ing is  indispensable  as  a  preparation  for  citizenship,  and  that  the 
training  of  character  connected  with  the  minimum  is  of  great 
importance  for  this  preparation.  We  are  permitting  our  boys 
and  girls  to  leave  our  public  schools  at  fourteen,  just  at  the  time 
when  they  most  need  guidance  and  instruction,  just  at  the  time 
when  character-building  really  begins,  and  just  when  they  should 
be  objects  of  special  attention  in  our  educational  plans.  Before 
the  age  of  fourteen  the  youth  is  too  immature  to  comprehend 
the  training  required  by  a  citizen  in  a  modern  state.  He  has 
not  the  judgment  and  power  of  resistance  to  temptations  neces- 
sary for  an  independent  life  in  modern  society.  Our  school  train- 
ing, therefore,  is  not  carried  far  enough  at  the  present  time  to 
reach  its  real  aim,  to  provide  instruction  and  training  necessary 
for  the  solution  of  the  problems  of  everyday  life.  Further,  the 
youth  who  leaves  school  at  fourteen  loses  and  wastes  almost  the 

1  From  article  by  Edwin  G.  Cooley.  National  Education  Association.  Pro- 
ceedings. 1912:1203-7. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  193 

entire  results  of  his  eight  years  in  the  elementary  school  before 
he  is  of  age. 

The  necessity  for  carrying  forward  the  school  instruction  be- 
yond the  years  of  compulsory  attendance  is  becoming  more  and 
more  urgent.  The  transformation  of  the  social  body,  the  rapid 
transition  of  our  people  from  country  life  to  city  life,  the  de- 
velopment of  the  industries  and  commercial  activities  demand 
more  from  the  school  than  they  did  in  the  past. 

The  nineteenth  century  has  made  the  elementary  school,  which 
was  often  nothing  but  a  reading-school  or  a  school  for  three  R's, 
a  real  educational  institution  for  the  people.  As  Friedrich  Paul- 
sen  says: 

It  will  be  the  mightiest  problem  of  the  twentieth  century  to  build  the 
elementary  school  as  a  general  and  fundamental  form  of  school  a  new  fin- 
ishing educational  institution,  or  to  give  to  the  elementary-school  instruc- 
tion its  necessary  conclusion  in  a  kind  of  vocational  high  school,  a  school 
whose  problem  will  be  the  carrying  forward  and  making  fruitful  of  the 
general  education  for  vocational  activity. 

The  course  of  education  for  every  position  in  life  should 
include  two  grades.  The  first  is  the  elementary  school,  whose 
problem  is — apart  from  the  development  of  the  intellectual 
powers — to  provide  exercises  in  the  school  arts  which  every  suc- 
cessive instruction  presupposes  and  makes  use  of.  In  a  democracy 
this  elementary  course  should  be  the  same  for  all,  and  can  be 
communicated  to  all  divisions  of  the  people  in  one  common  insti- 
tution— the  elementary  school.  The  second  grade  has  as  its  prob- 
lem to  advance  financial  means  of  the  pupils  in  accordance  with 
the  degree  of  existing  financial  means  and  mental  powers,  and 
to  give  real  vocational  education.  This  is  true  of  the  so-called 
learned  occupations  which  demand  a  real  scientific  training  as  a 
preparation  for  a  profession.  This  is  provided  by  the  universi- 
ties, and  the  various  sorts  of  technical  and  commercial  colleges, 
and  by  our  secondary  schools.  To  be  fair  to  all,  modern  condi- 
tions require  another  type  of  school  which,  like  other  schools, 
presupposes  the  general  training  given  in  the  elementary  school, 
but  which  has  as  its  problem  the  training  for  the  vocational 
life  of  the  youth  who  must  leave  the  ordinary  school  at  four- 
teen years.  This  training  on  the  immediately  practical,  technical 
side  may  fall  to  the  vocations  themselves,  but  a  school  must  be 
provided  to  supplement  this  shop  training  by  supplying  the 
knowledge  and  skill  demanded  by  modern  business  or  industrial 


194  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

the  school  now  known  as  the  continuation  or  part-time  school. 

Care  must  be  taken,  however,  that  this  new  independent  type 
of  vocational  school  which  takes  the  youth  on  leaving  the  ele- 
mentary school  not  only  provides  a  practical  vocational  educa- 
tion, but  also  considers  the  needs  of  the  man  and  the  citizen.  The 
vocations,  however,  will  stand  as  the  central  point  of  every  well- 
regulated  life  and  exercise  a  reaction  upon  all  the  remaining 
human  activities. 

Nevertheless  it  should  be  emphasized  that  the  problem  of  this 
new  school  is  providing  an  education  for  citizenship,  remember- 
ing that  a  good  citizen  must  necessarily  be  able  and  willing  to 
earn  a  decent  living.  We  cannot  leave  the  instruction  concerning 
the  public  duties  of  man  exclusively  to  party  eloquence  or  to  the 
daily  press.  This  work  cannot  be  done  in  the  elementary  school 
on  account  of  the  lack  of  maturity,  experience,  and  power  of 
comprehension  of  young  children  before  the  age  of  adolescence. 
The  boy,  however,  who  enters  into  practical  life  is  immediately 
attracted  by  questions  of  citizenship,  and  comes  to  such  instruc- 
tion with  all  sorts  of  practical  questions.  He  now  has  an  interest 
in  these  questions,  and  an  understanding  of  their  significance 
which  was  impossible  during  the  elementary-school  period.  If 
this  instruction  can  grow  out  of  concrete  facts,  and  experience 
can  be  related  to  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  pupil  himself,  we 
shall  succeed  in  utilizing  this  interest.  In  this  course  we  should 
include  some  study  of  politics,  of  the  position  of  our  country 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  of  our  possessions,  our  power, 
our  productions,  and  our  commerce. 

We  must  not  forget  that  such  youth  are  still  boys  and  girls 
with  an  interest  in  amusements  and  activity  of  various  kinds. 
Play  and  excursions,  evening  entertainments,  and  festivals  should 
be  carried  on  in  connection  with  their  school  work,  as  they  are 
now  carried  on  in  connection  with  our  secondary  and  elementary 
schools.  Libraries  and  reading-halls  should  be  provided  for  such 
continuation  schools,  and  the  wise  use  of  books  will  be  a  most 
important  function  of  the  teacher  in  such  institutions.  Such 
schools  should  be  supplied  with  playgrounds,  library  halls,  col- 
lections of  tools,  books,  and  apparatus,  and  we  should  encourage 
the  union  of  former  pupils  with  the  students  in  the  continuation 
schools.  Our  problem  is  with  the  whole  boy,  and  we  must  not 
neglect  his  recreation.  These  continuation  schools  must  be  com- 
plete schools  undertaking  so  far  as  possible  the  training  of  the 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  195 

whole  boy,  and  not  the  producing  of  cheap  skilled  labor  for  the 
employer. 

These  schools  are  not  continuation  schools  in  the  sense  of 
being  places  where  the  instruction  of  the  elementary  school  is 
continued  and  reviewed,  but  a  continuance  of  the  boy's  education 
under  new  conditions  and  with  a  new  point  of  view.  We  have 
up  to  the  time  of  entering  these  schools  taught  subjects,  have  pro- 
vided general  training,  which  it  was  hoped  would  be  later  applied 
to  special  cases.  The  continuation  school  reverses  the  process 
and  follows  the  maxims,  "Try  to  expand  from  your  own  center," 
"Proceed  slowly  step  by  step  in  your  own  way,  from  the  individ- 
ual to  the  universal."  This  means  a  change  of  attitude  that  will 
profoundly  modify  instruction  in  other  schools. 

These  schools  must  not  be  confused  with  evening  schools 
which  have  continued  and  supplemented  our  former  education. 
These  new  schools  must  have  their  own  organization,  their  own 
corps  of  teachers,  and  day  instruction  in  suitably  equipped  school 
buildings.  In  the  most  progressive  German  cities  they  have  their 
own  buildings,  corps  of  teachers,  branches  of  education,  and  all 
that  goes  with  an  independent  school. 

There  is  no  lack  of  interest  and  power  for  the  carry-out  of 
this  ideal  among  our  people.  There  never  was  a  time  when  the 
interest  in  education  agitated  the  people  more  powerfully  than 
today.  There  never  was  a  time  when  the  so-called  upper  classes 
felt  more  fully  their  obligation  to  extend  the  hand  to  their 
brothers  below  to  bring  them  up  to  a  higher  and  richer  life. 

The  supplement  to  our  educational  system  is  necessary.  As 
Friedrich  Paulsen  says: 

The  education  provided  for  our  youth  may  be  compared  to  an  aban- 
doned ruin:  the  foundation  is  laid,  a  few  walls  are  constructed,  then  the 
work  is  left  to  the  destruction  of  wind  and  watery 

Our  school  system  can  be  regarded  as  finished  only  when  we 
provide  an  instruction  for  all  that  will  fit  them  for  the  activities 
of  real  vocational  life. 


ig6  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

CONTINUATION  SCHOOLS  FOR  CHIL- 
DREN OF  SCHOOL  AGE1 

When  we  speak  of  continuation  schooling  we  mean  any  kind 
of  training  adapted  to  people  who  are  already  at  work.  People 
with  the  right  outlook  on  life  feel  that  when  they  stop  growing 
mentally  they  decay.  When  they  cease  to  look  forward  it  is  a 
sign  of  aging.  With  this  in  mind  those  who  have  a  foundation 
never  stop  reading  and  studying,  but  how  is  the  great  mass  of 
our  population  to  enjoy  such  happy  old  age  when  they  have 
never  obtained  the  fundamentals  necessary  for  self  development 
— this  is  a  problem  worthy  of  most  serious  study. 

The  mortality  in  school  attendance,  as  shown  here  for  the 
different  grades,  calls  our  attention  to  the  need  of  supplementary 
work  adapted  to  the  needs  of  those  who  have  quit.  According 
to  the  1912  report  of  the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education, 
pages  xiv-xv,  in  1911  of  children  10  to  14  years  old,  8,940,000  or 
96.15  per  cent,  were  in  school;  15  to  17,  3,060,000,  or  55.81  per 
cent,  a  drop  of  4  per  cent,  were  in  school;  18  to  20,  940,000,  or 
16.59  per  cent;  21  to  24,  4.75  per  cent.  There  were  only  20  per 
cent  as  many  in  the  eighth  grades  as  in  the  first,  and  only  3.4  per 
cent  as  many  in  the  last  year  of  high  school. 

There  are  two  million  children  between  the  ages  of  fourteen 
and  sixteen  out  of  school  in  this  country.  Not  more  than  half 
of  these  are  at  work  at  any  one  time,  or  were  forced  to  leave 
school  through  economic  pressure.  The  school  did  not  hold  their 
interest  and  parents  tired  of  insisting  on  their  attendance.  Most 
of  these  left  before  the  seventh  grade,  had  no  knowledge  of  real 
value  to  themselves,  never  attended  school  thereafter,  and  were 
thrown  upon  the  world  at  the  critical  period  of  adolescence. 
Citizenship  has  not  been  taught  before  the  seventh  grade  and 
these  young  children  need  instruction  in  it  as  well  as  in  trades. 

"If  we  need  proof  that  our  headless  and  aimless  administra- 
tion of  over  $500,000,000  (five  hundred  million)  annual  investment 
in  public  education  is  a  failure  consider  the  fact  that  half  of  all 
who  enter  it  leave  as  failures  or  disinterested  by  the  end  of  the 
sixth  grade,"  said  H.  E.  Miles,  of  Wisconsin.  Fifty  per  cent 
efficiency  is  too  low  for  any  machine;  why  is  it  accepted  for 

1  By  Frank  Harrison.  School  and  Society.  4:617-24.  October  21,  1916. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  197 

schools?  We  have  provided  long  enough  for  the  abstract-minded 
child  who  has  been  surrounded  by  books  from  infancy,  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  "hand-minded"  child. 

In  1910,  twenty  thousand  pupils  were  in  continuation  schools 
at  Munich.  Ninety-three  per  cent  of  the  boys  and  girls  under 
eighteen  were  at  some  kind  of  public  school.  How  much  differ- 
ent such  a  condition  is  from  that  in  the  United  States.  Certainly 
our  need  of  such  a  system  is  imperative  and  immediate. 

As  long  as  our  regular  high  schools  are  organized  to  get  ten 
boys  out  of  five  hundred  to  college  we  must  have  continuation 
opportunities.  It  seems  a  sad  commentary  on  the  citizens  of  a 
country  where  majority  is  supposed  to  rule,  that  an  injustice  is 
done  four  hundred  and  ninety  boys  to  help  only  ten. 

What  more  startling  statement  do  we  need  to  show  the  fail- 
ure of  our  elementary  school  and  the  importance  of  further  edu- 
cation for  those  who  leave  early,  than  that  "handsome,  intel- 
ligent, supposedly  well-educated  mechanics  of  nineteen  to  twenty- 
five,  had  to  begin  reading  in  the  Wisconsin  continuation  schools 
with  the  primer,"  a  true  statement  according  to  the  president  of 
the  Board  of  Industrial  Education  of  Wisconsin. 

Continuation  courses  should  be  arranged  at  public  expense  to 
fill  the  need  of  short  courses  without  substantial  requirements. 
This  is  a  field  in  which  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  business 
schools  and  correspondence  schools  are  attempting  to  operate 
now. 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin  Twenty, 
page  29,  for  1913,  shows  that 

Of  thirteen  million  young  men  in  the  United  Statese  between  21  and  35, 
only  5  per  cent  have  received  in  the  schools  direct  preparation  for  their 
vocations;  of  every  one  hundred  graduates  of  our  elementary  schools  only 
eight  obtain  their  livelihood  by  means  of  professional  and  commercial 
pursuits,  while  ninety-two  support  themselves  by  manual  labor. 

And  yet  we  hesitate  to  help  such  a  majority  which  must  be  as 
far  below  what  is  possible  as  the  illiterate  is  below  them  now. 

To-day  instead  of  providing  the  guidance  of  continuation 
schools  we  use  up  our  youth  in  parasitic  industry,  requiring  for 
cheapness'  sake  unskilled  juvenile  labor  that  leaves  the  child 
when  he  has  gone  through  adolescence,  without  a  trade,  without 
ambition,  without,  in  fact,  a  social  life  at  all. 

The  private  trade  school,  even  if  well  organized,  does  not  fill 
the  purpose  of  continuation  schools.  They  train  men  for  bosses, 


ig8  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

not  workmen.  In  practically  every  instance  employers  have  found 
they  are  unable  to  cope  successfully  with  providing  education  for 
young  employees  single-handed.  Factory  schools  are  unsatisfac- 
tory in  that  it  can  not  be  to  the  interest  of  the  manufacturer  to 
give  every  apprentice  an  equally  good  special  and  general  train- 
ing. He  only  concerns  himself  with  the  best  among  them,  and 
not  with  those  of  the  best  character,  but  with  those  of  the  best 
intelligence  and  manual  skill. 

Since  the  state  is  not  willing  to  pay  the  living  expense  of  chil- 
dren, it  seems  inconsistent  to  insist  upon  compulsory  full-time 
attendance  at  school.  The  practical  way  of  meeting  the  situa- 
tion is  to  establish  continuation  schools  or  part-time  classes  and 
make  then  compulsory. 

The  bringing  of  children  to  a  public  officer,  the  teacher,  gives 
an  opportunity  for  study  as  to  health  conditions  that  the  selfish 
employer  never  takes  time  to  consider.  It  lessens  the  necessity 
of  entering  "blind  alley"  occupations.  About  85  per  cent  of  chil- 
dren, if  unguided,  go  into  jobs  that  lead  nowhere. 

One  object  of  the  continuation  school  is  to  give  information 
on  each  of  the  processes  related  to  the  individual's  occupation  so 
that  the  apprentice  does  not  succumb  to  continuous  work  at  a 
minute  operation.  Principles  are  taught,  and  the  use  of  material, 
tools  and  machines,  in  general. 

Among  the  many  recommendations  of  a  Dominion  of  Canada 
Royal  Commission  in  Industrial  Training  and  Technical  Educa- 
tion we  find  in  the  1913  report,  (i)  Subject-matter  should  be 
with  real  problems  of  daily  life  of  the  students;  (2)  that 
teachers  shall  have  had  practical  experience  in  the  occupations 
dealt  with  and  be  skilful  in  teaching,  enthusiastic  and  sympa- 
thetic; (3)  that  attractive,  comfortable  and  convenient  rooms 
be  provided  and  plenty  of  equipment;  (4)  social  intercourse  is 
to  be  stimulated. 

The  continuation  school  is  necessary  for  those  entering  in- 
dustry early  to  supplement  poor  home  training  in  morals,  civic 
duty  and  political  rights.  With  husband  and  wife  both  in  indus- 
try, little  encouragement  is  given  at  home.  Especially  in  over- 
populated  states  and  cities  public  help  is  even  more  important  for 
girls  than  boys.  Girls  must  be  trained  to  be  mothers  and  house- 
hold managers,  on  the  side,  while  they  work  for  part  of  the 
family  living. 

So  much  has  been  said  about  the  need  of  lengthening  the  age 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  199 

of  compulsory  school  attendance  that  I  must  defend  further  my 
statement  that  provision  should  be  made  for  allowing  the  child 
to  enter  industry  early.  The  teacher  and  educational  theorist 
have  become  too  conceited.  They  seem  to  think  the  only  way  to 
become  educated  is  to  attend  school.  The  best  plan  is  between 
the  extremes  of  the  school  teacher's  ideas  and  of  the  ideas  of 
R.  T.  Crane.  There  is  value  in  general  education,  but  it  is  a 
stimulus  to  laziness.  The  boy  really  feels  better  if  he  is  working, 
he  feels  more  independent  and  ambitious,  providing  he  is  working 
under  good  conditions.  He  is  strengthened  physically  and  learns 
a  trade  from  a  practical  standpoint  which  the  school  can  not  pre- 
sent alone.  Thus  the  combination  of  the  advantages  of  this  with 
a  continuation  education  would  seem  a  step  in  advance. 

Boys  who  are  not  inclined  to  study  books  find  school  a  drudge 
and  certainly  they  are  not  a  pleasure  and  joy  forever  to  the 
teacher.  Let  me  give  one  instance  which  is  typical  of  many  I 
have  observed.  A  lad  had  been  truant  and  delinquent  until  the 
court  decided  something  final  should  be  done  as  a  last  attempt 
at  reform.  Work  was  found  for  him  with  a  reclamation  sur- 
veying crew.  He  was  to  obey  orders  of  the  chief  of  the  crew  as 
though  they  came  from  the  court.  To-day,  less  than  five  years 
since,  he  is  foreman  of  the  crew  and  drawing  a  salary  of  $3,000 
a  year.  He  is  happy  and  the  state  should  be.  Why  do  we  wait 
until  boys  are  steeped  in  truancy  and  possibly  crime  before  we 
respond  to  their  nature  and  let  them  work? 

Dr.  J.  P.  Monroe  shows  the  psychology  of  this  and  the  loss 
by  not  responding  to  it  with  part-time  schools.  He  says : 

The  boy  wants  to  make  something,  to  see  some  tangible  result  from  all 
these  weary  hours  in  school;  but  the  teacher  has  no  idea  how  to  make  things, 
the  text-books  say  nothing  about  it,  and  young  people  who  make  things  are 
apt  to  be  exuberant,  eager,  full  of  questioning.  The  child's  desire  to  invent 
is  stifled,  but  he  is  told  he  will  see  the  use  of  the  things  he  is  asked  to 
learn  by  and  by.  We  destroy  his  individuality  with  predigested — though 
(nevertheless  still  indigestible — facts,  yet  we  censure  him  for  exploding,  out 
of  school,  into  mischief,  petty  crime  and  worse. 

The  average  pupil  does  not  want  to  go  to  college,  and  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten  he  ought  not  to  go.  From  the  moment  he  enters 
the  primary  school  the  boy  should  be  studied  to  find  out  if  he 
is  really  fitted  to  go  to  college.  He  should  have  the  freedom  that 
iwould  enable  him  to  demonstrate  what  he  is  fitted  for.  Then  if 
he  is  not  adapted  to  college  he  should  be  directed  into  some  trade 
and  into  part-time  schools. 


200  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

The  National  Association  of  Manufacturers  reported  in  1910 
on  ten  points  of  industrial  training,  among  which  are  these : 

Industrial  education  must  consist  of  skill  and  schooling  and  these  two 
parts  are  of  equal  importance.  They  must  be  organically  combined  and 
each  will  coordinate  and  supplement  the  other.  The  average  schoolmaster  is 
incapable  of  the  task,  so  that  half-time  schools  are  feasible  and  practical. 

Professor  John  Dewey,  in  his  "Moral  Principles  of  Educa- 
tion," relates  a  true  story  illustrating  what  employers  think  is 
the  matter  with  school  technical  training,  and  which  continua- 
tion school  would  remedy. 

There  is  a  swimming  school  in  a  certain  city  where  youth  are  taught  to 
swim  without  going  into  the  water,  being  repeatedly  drilled  in  the  various 
movements  which  are  necessary  for  swimming.  When  one  of  the  young 
men  so  trained  was  asked  what  he  did  when  he  got  into  water,  he  laconically 
replied:  "Sunk." 

So  many  of  the  boys  trained  in  schools  to  be  bookkeepers, 
merchants,  engineers,  etc.,  sink  when  they  get  in  the  water  of 
real  business  and  industry. 

Frank  M.  Leavitt,  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  uses  the  fol- 
lowing statement,  which  summarizes  what  I  have  to  say  on  this 
point. 

The  continuation  course  takes  a  boy  at  this  critical  period  and  shows  him 
how  work  and  education  are  correlated  rather  than  things  apart. 

Since  there  are  so  many  advantages  in  part-time  work,  and 
such  a  need  of  school  opportunities  for  children  in  industry,  why 
is  it  that  we  do  not  provide  for  it  in  the  United  States?  Is  it 
because  it  is  new  and  untried?  No.  They  are  of  wide  use,  espe- 
cially in  Germany  and  England. 

In  England  they  are  mainly  evening  schols,  assisted  by  na- 
tional grants,  but  nowhere  compulsory.  They  are  unsatisfactory 
because  (i)  youths  are  tired,  (2)  teachers  are  untrained  for 
this  kind  of  work,  (3)  supervision  is  difficult. 

In  America,  also,  they  are  mainly  evening  schools.  Not  all 
regular  high  school  courses  are  covered,  but  some  general  and 
much  technical  work  is  taught.  Large  numbers  of  foreigners  go 
to  learn  English.  The  present  trend  is  toward  part-time  day 
schools.  Lecturing,  music  and  drama  are  better  fitted  for  eve- 
ning. Day  work  makes  it  possible  to  develop  a  special  teaching 
force  for  it,  inasmuch  as  it  would  be  arranged  that  the  pupils 
would  appear  in  relays,  the  same  teacher  dealing  with  successive 
groups,  so  it  would  be  financially  practical  to  employ  specialist 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  201 

teachers.  But  since  this  takes  time  away  from  the  employer  it 
will  probably  require  compulsory  legislation  here  as  it  has  else- 
where. 

At  Fitchburg,  Mass.,  the  boy  agrees  to  stay  by  the  employer 
three  years,  and  the  employer  agrees  to  teach  him  the  various 
branches  of  the  trade.  Cleveland  provides  twelve  schools  which 
those  going  to  work  before  completing  the  elementary  schools 
must  attend  six  hours  a  week  in  the  daytime  unless  over  sixteen 
years  of  age. 

Many  Swiss  cantons,  especially  Zurich,  Lower  Austria,  and 
Scotland,  have  day  continuation  schools.  In  Bavaria  there  were, 
in  1913,  sixteen  day  continuation  schools  with  five  hundred  en- 
rolled. Daytime  attendance  is  compulsory  for  six  to  twelve 
hours  a  week  for  all  under  eighteen  in  Bavaria,  Wurtemburg, 
Saxony,  Baden  and  Hessen,  for  both  town  and  country  popula- 
tion. 

In  Germany  there  are  two  types,  (i)  General,  (2)  Indus- 
trial. The  idea  originated  in  instruction  in  Christianity  in  1870. 
In  1891  by  imperial  decree  it  was  made  compulsory  for  employers 
and  parents  to  send  children  to  continuation  schools  where  estab- 
lished. For  a  time  the  work  was  done  Sundays  and  evenings,  but 
the  tendency  now,  as  in  America,  is  to  take  six  or  eight  hours  a 
week  from  work  time.  Industrial  and  technical  instruction  is 
along  the  line  of  work  during  employment.  In  Germany  the  con- 
tinuation school  is  not  responsible  to  the  ministry  of  "Public 
Worship,  Instruction  and  Public  Health,"  but  to  the  departments 
of  trade  and  commerce  and  agriculture. 

Let  us  now  consider  some  of  the  points  involved  in  the  dif- 
ferent types  of  continuation  schools.  As  I  have  already  brought 
out,  there  are  schools  taking  but  a  few  hours  a  week  for  those 
with  regular  jobs,  schools  taking  half  a  day — so  that  two  young 
people  fill  the  same  desk  and  the  same,  job  each  day — and  eve- 
ning schools. 

The  evening  school  does  not  warrant  attention  for  people 
under  eighteen.  As  I  have  already  said,  evening  schools  should 
be  voluntary,  but  day  school  compulsory,  otherwise  employers 
will  prevent  their  youthful  workmen  from  making  use  of  the 
opportunity  except  at  night  when  mind  and  body  are  fatigued. 
The  number  of  public-spirited  employers  is  too  small  to  make 
voluntary  day  schools  a  success.  In  Cincinnati  it  was  found 
night  work  did  not  attract  the  apprentice.  Ten  hours  concen- 


202  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

trated  attention  to  a  machine  leaves  little  energy  for  study,  and 
the  city  has  many  more  alluring  ways  of  passing  an  evening. 

The  first  use  of  the  part-time  plan  in  the  United  States  was 
by  the  University  of  Cincinnati  Engineering  Department  in  1906. 

It  has  since  been  started  in  Fitchburg,  Beverly  and  Quincy, 
Mass.  Conditions  in  these  cities  are  typical  enough  to  show  that 
some  type  is  adaptable  to  any  community's  need.  At  Fitchburg 
the  course  is  of  four  year's  duration.  The  first  year  is  in  high 
school,  and  the  next  three  years  alternate  weekly  between  ^hop 
and  school.  The  boys  are  paid  10  cents  an  hour  the  first  year  at 
work,  II  cents  an  hour  in  the  second  year,  and  i2l/2  cents  an 
hour  in  the  third  year.  Because  of  increased  interest,  ambition 
and  efficiency,  employers  find  they  do  not  lose  by  allowing  two 
boys  to  take  turns  at  a  job. 

Since  under  the  half-time  plan  only  twenty  weeks  a  year  are 
spent  in  school  the  time  should  be  spent  on  subjects  of  practical 
value,  as  English,  current  events,  arithmetic,  drawing,  civics  and 
sociology,  chemistry,  physics,  electricity  and  mechanics. 

Frank  M.  Leavitt  reports  that  at  Fitchburg  boys  on  part  time 
have  "no  difficulty  in  keeping  up  their  social  standing.  They 
constitute  the  major  portion  of  football,  basketball  and  base- 
ball teams,  and  hold  class  offices." 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  Quincy  continuation  school 
has  not  lost  a  boy  until  the  course  was  completed,  when  we  re- 
member the  per  cent  that  drop  out  of  our  elementary  and  sec- 
ondary schools.  Promotion  at  Quincy  is  irregular,  the  bright  go 
fast,  and  the  average  take  three  years.  The  school  has  absolute 
control  of  the  boys  and  assumes  full  responsibility. 

However,  the  half-time  plan  is  adapted  only  to  those  who  are 
fairly  well-to-do,  to  those  whose  only  trouble  is  that  they  are 
uninterested  in  regular  academic  work.  For  those  who  can 
afford  to  spend  but  a  few  hours  a  week  away  from  work,  and 
who  leave  school  before  finishing  the  eighth  grade  the  tendency 
is  toward  the  six-  to  twelve-hour-a-week  plan. 

Here  again  Cincinnati  is  one  of  the  best  examples,  since  it 
has  schools  for  boys  who  work  most  of  the  week  but  attend 
school  four  hours.  These  boys  receive  pay  for  attendance  and 
are  docked  for  absence  by  employers.  The  school  handles  them 
in  groups  divided  according  to  proficiency.  The  cost  per  pupil, 
according,  to  F.  B.  Dyer,  superintendent  of  schools,  is  $15  a  year. 

H.  E.  Miles  is  accomplishing  wonderful  things  in  Wisconsin. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  203 

Forty  thousand  pupils  were  given  vocational  education  five  hours 
a  week  in  1913.  These  children  are  also  paid  the  same  wage  as 
when  they  worked  full  time.  The  Wisconsin  law  is  compulsory 
for  those  who  are  14  to  16,  unless  the  child  has  finished  the 
eighth  grade.  The  annual  cost  per  child  was  $10,  or  less  than 
half  that  of  the  common  school,  while  the  cost  for  similar  train- 
ing before  the  state  took  hold  had  been  $300  in  private  schools. 

Many  problems  have  remained  unsolved,  and  some  new  ones 
have  developed  for  those  who  are  pioneering  in  this  field. 

It  is  difficult  to  make  continuation  technical  schools  practical 
unless  industries  of  a  community  are  homogeneous,  and  the 
community  can  agree  that  it  would  be  advantageous  to  supply 
more  and  better  men  for  such  industry.  There  is  danger  of 
creating  more  printers,  mechanics,  etc.,  than  the  trade  will  bear, 
and  it  is  an  expensive  proposition  to  educate  a  man  to  a  skilled 
position  only  to  find  the  labor  market  in  that  trade  is  over- 
crowded. Many  think  such  is  the  condition  of  our  stenography 
and  bookkeeping  departments  to-day.  We  are  making  book- 
keepers only  for  them  to  find  that  they  must  learn  something  else 
in  order  to  get  work. 

Then  there  is  the  industrial  problem  of  a  disastrous  com- 
petition with  adult  labor.  There  is  no  adequate  solution  of  the 
difficulty,  although  a  limitation  of  the  proportion  of  apprentices 
to  journeymen  goes  part  way.  Possibly  a  minimum  wage  for 
men  would  be  sufficient. 

The  editor  of  the  Contemporary  Review  says: 

At  all  cost  we  must  avoid  the  German  danger  of  "over-emphasis  of  tech- 
nical training."  The  object  of  the  continuation  school  is  to  develop  the 
whole  man. 

However,  "technical  and  trade  training  in  the  German  sys- 
tem is  only  the  starting  point  for  the  wider  general  training,  for 
the  education  in  practical  and  theoretical  thinking,  in  considera- 
tion for  others,  in  devotion  to  common  interests,  in  social  service 
for  the  state  community,"  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  George 
Kerschensteiner,  of  Munich.  Around  this  they  weave  religion, 
civics,  hygiene,  physical  development,  penmanship,  spelling,  read- 
ing, physics,  chemistry,  etc.  Even  the  "American  Federation  of 
Labor  Magazine"  warns  us  that  there  is  a  growing  feeling  that 
in  industrial  education  the  human  elements  must  be  recognized 
and  can  not  be  so  disregarded  as  to  make  the  future  workers 


264  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

mere  automatic  machines.     Dexterity  must  be  based  on  insight. 

At  first  thought  it  might  seem  necessary  to  have  such  an  ex- 
pensive duplication  of  machinery  and  tools  that  the  plan  is  im- 
practical. But  such  is  not  the  case.  The  school  could  be  in  con- 
stant use.  It  should  be  located  in  the  center  of  the  industrial 
district  and  the  pupils  so  organized  that  some  would  come  in  the 
morning  and  some  in  the  afternoon,  some  Monday,  some  Tues- 
day, and  so  on  for  six  days  of  the  week.  It  should  be  in  the 
industrial  district  so  it  would  not  be  far  to  or  from  work,  and 
easily  accessible  from  homes  in  every  part  of  the  city. 

Germany  has  found  that  employers  have  a  more  direct  inter- 
est if  they  bear  some  share  of  the  cost  of  the  attendance  of 
their  apprentices.  So  they  must  provide  material  and  cooperate 
in  the  selection  of  teachers  and  the  conduct  of  examinations. 
Many  employers  in  England  have  agreed  to  pick  their  appren- 
tices from  those  who  will  go  to  continuation  schools.  Since  the 
plan  is  voluntary  in  England  it  has  been  necessary  for  the  In- 
dustrial Education  Board  to  take  steps  along  this  line  to  stim- 
ulate the  interest  of  the  boys  in  the  value  of  attending. 

For  those  who  are  opposed  to  child  labor  it  is  encouraging 
to  note  a  tendency  to  discourage  exploitation  of  children  when 
the  employer  has  to  bother  with  compulsory  continuation 
schooling. 

Dr.  Kerschensteiner  compliments  the  American  regular 
schools  on  the  opportunity  given  for  student  activity,  and  says 
that  it  is  especially  adapted  to  continuation  schools,  though  in 
Germany  it  is  lacking  everywhere.  Leagues,  societies,  frater- 
nities, associations,  debating  clubs,  music  clubs,  self-government 
should  be  introduced  in  the  system,  providing  the  teachers  can 
enlist  them  in  the  service  of  school  interests. 

Carroll  G.  Pearse,  formerly  superintendent  of  schools,  Mil- 
waukee, Wisconsin,  page  571  of  the  report  of  the  National  Edu- 
cation Association  Meeting  of  1912  in  Salt  Lake  City,  says :  , 

The  selection  of  teachers  for  continuation  schools  is  of  first  importance; 
only  the  best  teachers  can  be  used.  People  who  are  in  school  only  a  few 
hours  each  week  must  have  the  best  equipment  and  instruction;  their  time 
is  precious. 

At  Cincinnati  the  chief  difficulty  has  not  been  to  secure  the 
interest  of  the  community,  employers  or  boys,  but  to  get  prac- 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  205 

tical  and  inspiring  teachers.  They  have  come  to  the  plan  of 
taking  a  man  from  a  shop  to  handle  the  school.  They  try  to 
get  one  with  a  liberal  as  well  as  practical  education.  Unless 
employers  have  confidence  in  the  teacher  they  do  not  like  to 
co-operate.  The  lack  of  confidence  in  the  teachers  is  what  makes 
employers  so  opposed  to  technical  training  in  schools  of  to-day, 
when  there  is  any  opposition  at  all.  Part  time  in  practise  would 
largely  meet  this.  The  instructor  problem  must  be  the  hardest 
in  Germany  also,  for  there  is  a  German  saying,  "God  knows 
everything,  and  the  German  professor  knows  everything  better." 
One  of  the  main  reasons  continuation  schools  have  advanced 
faster  in  Germany  than  here  is  the  difference  in  the  character 
of  the  industries  and  school  division  points.  Few  American  boys 
become  apprenticed.  The  law  ^  says  they  shall  not  leave  school 
until  fifteen,  but  at  that  age  they  have  finished  the  grade  school 
and  should  be  in  the  high  school.  In  Germany  boys  and  girls 
begin  apprenticeship  at  14,  and  they  are  not  dissatisfied  with 
using  children  of  this  age.  Dr.  Kerschensteiner  says : 

From  an  educational  point  of  view  it  is  desirable  to  make  fourteen  the 
age  for  commencing,  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  working  at  a  trade  is  or 
might  be  an  essential  factor  in  the  formation  of  character.  Nothing  strength- 
ens character  more  than  honest  trade  work.  Nothing  so  crystallizes  the 
crude  charcoal  of  childhood  into  diamonds  of  humanity  as  systematic  self- 
directed  effort  during  adolescence. 

However  it  must  not  be  allowed  to  become  drudgery.  This 
is  where  part  time  or  continuation  schools  step  in  and  expand 
the  blind  alley  and  make  possible  a  future.  To  this  end  our  gram- 
mar school  should  be  lengthened  two  years,  which  would  make 
the  finishing  age  about  sixteen,  some  would  then  enter  industry 
and  continuation  schools,  others  would  go  on  to  high  school, 
which  should  be  extended  two  years  to  take  what  are  now  col- 
lege subjects.  Then  a  chosen  few  would  go  to  a  real  university 
of  three  years  leading  to  an  M.A.  degree. 

If  the  United  States  is  to  maintain  a  place  among  countries 
of  the  best  educational  advantages  it  must  face  this  need.  There 
is  need  of  a  strong  personality  to  keep  a  keen  civic  consciousness 
on  the  duty  of  the  state  to  educate  those  who  must  be  self- 
supporting.  Professor  Leavitt  says  the  interest  and  optimistic 
personality  of  Dr.  Kerschensteiner  had  much  to  do  with  making 
Munich  the  best  example  of  this  type  of  school. 


206  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

Political,  social  and  economic  conditions  are  so  interwoven 
with  the  educational  system  that  any  progress  or  enlargement  of 
the  scope  of  the  school  will  produce  vital  improvements  in 
American  citizenship.  Let  each  state  do  its  share  to  help  rhose 
millions  who  enter  industry  without  adequate  general  and  tech- 
nical training. 


COMMERCIAL  EDUCATION 

SECONDARY  COMMERCIAL  SCHOOLS 
IN  GERMANY1 

From  one  point  of  view  the  middle  or  secondary  commercial 
schools  are  the  oldest  of  all  types  of  German  commercial  schools, 
for  they  belong  to  the  general  Real-  school  group.  Francke  is 
commonly  reputed  to  have  laid  the  foundation  of  this  modern 
movement  in  his  organization  at  Halle  (1698),  when  he  set 
apart  a  separate  secondary  school  (Padagogium)  for  those  chil- 
dren who  were  not  going  further  in  their  studies,  but  were  look- 
ing forward  to  commercial  work,  administration  of  estates,  and 
allied  undertakings.  In  I7472  Hecker  founded  his  first  Real- 
school  (an  institution  that  still  exists  in  Berlin  as  the  Konig- 
liches  Kaiser  Whilhelms-  Realgymnasium),  wherein  was  found 
a  special  "manufacturers',  commercial  and  business"  class,  with 
commercial  correspondence  and  bookkeeping  as  important  sub- 
jects of  instruction.  Had  the  ill  starred  Philanthropist  move- 
ment under  Basedow  and  his  followers  been  more  sanely  and 
skillfully  directed,  it  might  have  played  a  more  significant  role 
in  the  development  of  the  commercial  movement,  for  each  of 
these  schools  under  this  aegis  had  its  commercial  classes  or  sec- 
tions. "Commercial  science,"  whatever  may  have  been  the  con- 
notation of  that  term  then,  and  bookkeeping,  appear  to  have 
been  the  chief  representatives  of  business  interests  in  the  pro- 
gram of  studies.  In  Hamburg,  in  1803,  even  the  classical  Gym- 
nasium had  its  so-called  classes  cwicae,  which  later  developed 
into  Realgymnasium. 

1  From  "Commercial  Education  in  Germany,"  lp.  139-42.     By  F.  E.  Far- 
rington,  Associate  Professor  of  Education  Administration,  Teachers  College, 
Columbia  University. 

2  It  is  interesting  for  students  of  educational  history  to  note  how  nearly 
this  accords  with  the  date  of  Franklin's  plan  for  an  American  academy,  and 
the  opening  of  the  school  in  Philadelphia  (1743-1749).     Each  of  these  move- 
ments was  the  beginning  of  a  protest  against  the  traditional  educational  order 
in  their  respective  countries,  a  protest  that  has  only  become  effective  dur- 
ing the  present  generation. 


208  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

The  officially  recognized  differentiation  of  Gymnasium,  Ober- 
real  schule,  and  Realschule,  in  1882,  and  the  equalization  of 
privilege  for  graduates  of  the  three  first  named  types  of  insti- 
tutions in  1900  went  far  toward  raising  the  repute  of  the  modern 
as,  opposed  to  the  classical  school,  and  therefore  put  these  sec- 
ondary schools  with  commercial  courses  in  a  much  more  hon- 
orable position.  In  the  new  program  of  1901  the  Realschulen 
were  officially  recognized  as  forming  the  lowest  and  middle 
grades  of  the  Oberrealschulen,  a  state  of  affairs  that  is  not  alto- 
gether to  the  liking  of  the  German  Union  for  Commercial  In- 
struction. This  dissatisfaction  became  more  pronounced  since 
the  Realschule  began  to  serve  as  a  middle  technical  and  trade 
school,  rather  than  as  a  commercial  school. 

Despite  the  general  commercial  activity  throughout  the  land 
the  middle  or  secondary  commercial  schools  have  not  developed 
so  rapidly  as  the  elementary  and  university  grades. 


THE  PLACE  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  IN 
COMMERCIAL  EDUCATION1 

It  is  a  commonplace  that  European  countries,  and  especially 
Germany,  have  in  the  last  decade  been  striving  with  particular 
earnestness  to  make  their  schools  perform  a  function  in  the 
training  of  business  men.  England,  France,  and  Belgium  have 
perhaps  not  been  overenthusiastic  in  the  attempt,  but  they  have 
been  by  no  means  inactive;  and  while  they  have  not  kept  pace 
'with  the  strides  of  Germany,  it  is  yet  true  that  each  country  has 
made  distinct  progress.  In  England,  owing  to  the  comparatively 
backward  state  of  the  whole  educational  system,  the  problem  is 
particularly  difficult.  And  consequently,  so  far  as  day  instruction 
is  concerned,  only  the  merest  beginnings  of  an  adequate  system 
can  at  present  be  discerned.  In  all  of  the  Continental  countries 
of  importance,  however,  commercial  education,  both  in  quality 
and  in  quantity,  has  gone  far  beyond  the  elementary  stages. 
Very  naturally  we  look  to  Germany  for  the  most  significant  ven- 
tures in  this  new  field  to  educational  endeavor,  for  enterprise 
in  this  direction  is  merely  in  harmony  with  the  theory  of  Ger- 

1  By  James  J.  Sheppard,  New  York  High  School  of  Commerce.  Journal 
of  Political  Economy.  21:209-20.  March,  1913. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  209 

man  education.  Those  who  have  read  Dr.  Cooley's  highly  instruc- 
tive report  on  foreign  schools  are  familiar  with  the  general  plan 
and  scope  of  commercial  education  in  Germany.  For  my  present 
purpose  it  is  sufficient  to  emphasize  one  striking  difference  be- 
tween the  German  system  and  our  own.  Relatively  speaking, 
no  great  progress  in  commercial  instruction  has  been  made  in 
the  German  secondary  schools.  Training  of  this  kind  is  pro- 
vided chiefly  in  the  schools  of  continuation  and  of  college  grade. 
Of  the  former  there  are  hundreds. 

While  adequate  provision  is  thus  made  in  Germany  for  com- 
mercial instruction  at  the  bottom  and  at  the  top,  it  is  a  striking 
fact  that  not  much  progress  has  as  yet  been  made  in  the  middle 
or  secondary  field  of  study.  There  are,  of  course,  some  hohere 
Handelsschulen  and  occasional  commercial  classes,  but  in  gen- 
eral secondary  instruction  follows  the  traditional  course.  Where 
it  is  modernized  the  modification  has  been  scientific  rather  than 
vocational  in  character.  In  this  country,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
is  precisely  in  the  secondary  field  that  commercial  education  has 
won  its  greatest  success,  and  where,  it  seems  to  me  at  least,  it  is 
to  reach  its  greatest  efficiency.  Year  by  year  the  annual  report 
of  the  commissioner  of  education  shows  striking  gains  in  the 
number  of  students  of  high  school  grade  pursuing  commercial 
subjects.  Even  more  significant,  perhaps,  is  the  establishment 
in  the  last  few  years  of  special  commercial  high  schools  in  a 
number  of  important  cities.  New  York  City  has  two  such 
schools.  Others  are  to  be  found  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Wash- 
ington, Springfield,  Mass.,  Detroit,  Cleveland,  and  Columbus. 

The  American  high  school,  with  its  absolutely  free  instruc- 
tion, often  with  free  supplies  as  well,  and  with  its  doors  swing- 
ing wide  to  admit  all  who  have  completed  the  elementary  school, 
has  no  exact  counterpart  in  Europe.  It  is  a  thoroughly  demo- 
cratic institution,  whereas  schools  of  similar  grade  abroad  work 
under  limitations  which  seriously  interfere  with  the  democratic 
ideal.  Secondary  instruction  in  this  country  has  made  enormous 
strides  in  the  past  decade,  and  perhaps  as  never  before  we  are 
now  face  to  face  with  the  problem  of  deciding  the  dominating 
aims  of  our  middle  school.  In  theory  at  least  it  has  been  de- 
termined that  the  college-preparatory  idea  shall  be  cast  aside  as 
hopelessly  out  of  date;  in  practice,  however,  that  idea  still  has 
a  remarkable  hold  upon  the  secondary  school.  I  intend  to  dis- 
cuss only  the  commercial  aspect  of  vocational  training  in  the 


210  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

high  schools,   and   to  point  out  ways  and  means   for  realizing 
proper  ideals  in  secondary  commercial  instruction. 

What  are  the  proper  ideals?  To  begin  with,  it  should  be 
clearly  understood  that  commercial  education  involves  vastly 
more  than  familiarity  with  a  few  such  subjects  as  arithmetic, 
bookkeeping,  stenography,  and  typewriting.  These  are  of  course 
fundamental  and  important,  but  it  is  a  tremendous  mistake  to 
ignore  the  fact  that  the  business  world  of  today  demands  a  much 
wider  range  of  training  than  is  provided  in  the  old-fashioned 
business-school  curriculum.  In  other  words,  the  business  man 
of  today  requires  an  equipment  which  goes  far  beyond  the  ability . 
to  record  business  transactions.  Recorders  have  their  place,  of 
course,  but  doers  have  the  far  more  important  function.  Ger- 
many's extraordinary  success  in  building  up  its  foreign  trade  is 
due  in  very  large  part  to  the  commercial  agents  who  have  gone 
out  from  the  fatherland  equipped  with  a  knowledge  of  a  foreign 
language,  conversant  with  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  ^foreign 
country  to  which  they  go,  with  its  economic  possibilities,  and 
with  its  particular  commercial  needs.  It  is  highly  desirable  that 
we,  too,  should  be  able  to  have  adequate  representation  of  our 
commercial  interests  abroad,  but  even  at  home  there  is  a  big 
field  for  young  men  whose  knowledge  of  business  is  broad  and 
comprehensive.  I  am  not  claiming  that  the  school  alone  can  give 
such  knowledge,  but  I  do  contend  that  an  adequate  course  of 
study  will  put  the  prospective  business  man  on  the  right  track. 
I  am  not  arguing  for  a  course  of  study  designed  only  for  those 
who  are  likely  to  be  business  leaders ;  there  are  a  vast  number  of 
minor  positions  and  a  vast  number  of  youths  whose  capabilities 
limit  them  to  such  positions.  What  is  required  is  a  course  of 
study  wisely  arranged  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  several  types  of 
students.  Such  a  course  would  make  ample  provision  in  the  first 
year  or  two  for  the  sort  of  training  requisite  to  employment  in 
minor  commercial  positions.  This  can  be  done  without  sacrific- 
ing the  necessary  continuity  in  the  course  for  those  who  carry 
it  to  completion. 

This  brings  me  to  a  consideration  of  what  may  be  properly 
included  in  an  adequate  commercial  course  for  secondary  schools. 
My  experience  leads  me  to  believe  that  practically  all  of  the 
standard  secondary  subjects,  with  the  exception  of  ancient  lan- 
guages and,  possibly,  mathematics,  may  well  be  utilized  for  com- 
mercial instruction.  But  I  hasten  to  say  that  this  is  true  only 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  211 

if  the  selection  of  topics  and  the  method  of  attack  be  governed 
by  the  dominant  aim  of  the  school.  In  other  words,  the  outlines 
of  courses  in  the  same  subject  should  differ  very  widely  as  be- 
tween the  college-preparatory  and  the  commercial  divisions. 
Largely  for  this  reason  I  would  argue  for  separate  commercial 
secondary  schools  wherever  community  conditions  are  favorable. 
The  day  may  come  when  it  will  be  realized  that  there  is  a  distinct 
gain  for  all  classes  of  pupils  in  following  a  method  of  study 
dominated  by  practical  rather  than  college-preparatory  aims.  In 
my  own  city  there  is  a  decided  tendency  to  reshape  the  outlines 
of  study  for  the  several  subjects  with  a  view  to  making  them 
more  practical.  We  of  the  High  School  of  Commerce  have 
naturally  been  gratified  to  note  a  gradual  approximation  to  our 
own  scheme  of  studies  in  a  number  of  the  items  of  the  curricu- 
lum on  the  part  of  our  sister  schools  of  the  metropolis.  If  this 
were  generally  and  adequately  done  there  would  of  course  be 
less  need  for  the  separate  special  school. 

An  adequate  secondary  commercial  course,  as  has  already 
been  implied,  will  embrace  such  subjects  as  English,  modern  lan- 
guages, history,  science,  and  art  as  well  as  the  more  technical 
subjects  of  bookkeeping,  stenography,  typewriting,  and  commer- 
cial law.  It  will  also  give  an  important  place  to  the  study  of 
economics,  a  subject  comparatively  new  in  the  secondary  curricu- 
lum but  destined  to  prove,  I  feel  confident,  an  exceedingly  valu- 
able instrument  of  secondary  training  and  indispensable  in  a 
satisfactory  commercial  course.  It  is,  however,  in  the  special 
treatment  of  these  subjects  that  their  commercial  value  is  to  be 
realized.  The  English  instruction  of  the  commercial  course  will 
not  be  hampered  by  college-entrance  requirements,  but  will  fol- 
low a  simple,  rational  plan  with  due  regard  to  the  interest  of  the 
student.  It  will  include  such  matters  as  letter-writing  with  drill 
on  ordinary  business  idioms ;  the  composition  of  telegrams ;  the 
writing  and  answering  of  advertisements;  oral  and  written  re- 
ports on  commercial  topics ;  the  preparation  of  a  comprehensive 
and  careful  discussion  of  some  particular  line  of  business.  Nor 
will  training  in  effective  oral  expression  be  neglected.  The 
power  of  concise  and  persuasive  speech  is  of  much  moment  to 
the  business  man. 

In  history  the  emphasis  will  be  shifted  from  political  and 
military  matters  to  economic  and  commercial  phases.  Fortunately 
the  new  school  of  textbook  writers  are  giving  us  suitable  mate- 


212  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

rial  to  work  with.  In  addition  excellent  special  books  are  now 
available.  Civics  in  the  commercial  school  will  be  a  first-hand 
study  of  the  government  as  it  actually  affects  the  student  and 
will  not  overmuch  concern  itself  with  governmental  forms  and 
constitutions.  It  will  emphasize  the  study  of  municipal  activities 
and  acquaint  the  student  with  the  business  aspects  of  his  own 
local  government.  For  the  last  half-decade  we  have  been  giving 
to  first-year  students  in  the  New  York  High  School  of  Com- 
merce a  course  in  the  government  of  the  city  which  to  my  mind 
far  outweighs  in  value  the  usual  course  in  civics  which  concerns 
itself  with  a  broad  outline  of  government,  federal  and  state.  The 
latter  we  do  not  neglect,  but  we  associate  it  with  the  study  of 
American  history  and  reserve  it  for  the  mature  students.  The 
National  Municipal  League  has  been  carrying  on  a  campaign  for 
a  number  of  years  to  secure  a  place  in  the  high-school  curricu- 
lum for  a  course  in  municipal  activities  and  its  work  is  begin- 
ning to  bear  fruit. 

In  European  commercial  schools  the  study  of  foreign  lan- 
guages is  a  conspicuous  feature  of  the  program,  two  and  often 
three  such  languages  being  included.  There  is  special  need  for 
such  instruction  abroad  where  different  nationalities  crowd  close 
upon  one  another — international  commerce  being  to  them  very 
much  what  interstate  commerce  is  to  us.  Obviously  no  such 
urgent  reasons  for  emphasizing  modern  languages  exist  on  this 
side.  Nevertheless  a  well-rounded  commercial  course  will  not 
neglect  language  instruction.  Apart  from  their  disciplinary  and 
cultural  values,  the  modern  languages  have  a  distinctly  practical 
bearing  on  business  life  through  the  opportunities  they  afford  the 
student  of  securing  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  commer- 
cial activities  of  foreign  countries.  The  social  and  business  cus- 
toms of  the  several  countries,  their  imports  and  exports,  their 
commercial  relations  with  us  and  with  one  another,  may  all  be 
studied  now  in  books  well  adapted  to  secondary  instruction.  Ex- 
perience shows  that  four  years  of  the  study  of  one  foreign  lan- 
guage, with  a  view  to  securing  facility  in  its  conversational  use, 
can  be  relied  upon  to  insure  a  fair  degree  of  fluency  in  speech. 
A  mere  reading  knowledge  is  not  sufficient  for  the  commercial 
graduate  who  can  well  dispense  with  some  of  the  niceties  of 
modern-language  study  for  an  equipment  of  immediate  impor- 
tance to  him.  Naturally  Spanish  should  be  one  of  the  modern 
languages  taught,  though  I  must  confess  that  the  opportunities 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  213 

for  young  men  well  trained  in  Spanish  have  seemingly  been 
overestimated.  A  goodly  number  of  our  young  men  have  secured 
places  through  their  knowledge  of  Spanish  but  relatively  satis- 
factory openings  in  Spanish-American  trade  have  not  been  what 
might  reasonably  have  been  expected. 

Science  has  been  rather  generally  disregarded  in  the  typical 
commercial  course  and  yet  the  modern  industrial  world  touches 
science  at  every  turn.  One  great  difficulty  with  science  teaching 
in  the  secondary  school  has  been  that  it  has  been  too  scientific. 
We  have  really  had  carefully  developed  logical  courses  of  the 
college  trimmed  down  to  the  secondary  requirements.  The 
secondary  school  and  particularly  the  commercial  secondary 
school  should  work  out  its  own  problem  in  its  own  way.  Its  aim 
clearly  should  not  be  to  turn  out  scientists.  That  is  impossible. 
It  should  introduce  the  student  to  an  interesting  field  of  work 
where  he  will  acquire  a  distinct  method  of  study  involving  doing 
and  seeing  things  for  himself  and  drawing  conclusions  at  first 
hand.  The  peculiar  commercial  value  of  such  studies  as  biology 
and  chemistry  hardly  require  statement.  Biology,  for  instance, 
may  be  utilized  to  introduce  the  student  to  the  raw  materials  of 
commerce,  their  production,  growth,  and  relative  values.  Topics 
such  as  sanitation,  prevention  of  disease,  conservation  of  natural 
resources,  sources  of  raw  materials,  plants  and  animal  breeding, 
development  of  natural  products  will  form  the  staple  of  instruc- 
tion. In  the  study  of  seeds,  for  instance,  the  pupil  is  led  to 
make  a  classification  of  all  seeds  that  are  of  commercial  impor- 
tance. He  investigates  the  method  of  seed  selection  for  plant- 
ing, and  the  relation  structure,  germination,  and  efficiency  have 
to  the  production  of  good  crops  and  large  yields.  Then  will 
follow  the  study  of  ploughs,  harrows,  cultivators,  as  instruments 
for  preparing  the  soil,  and  of  machines  and  methods  employed 
in  the  harvesting  of  crops.  This  gives  the  pupil  a  meaningful 
glimpse  into  the  great  field  of  agriculture.  Finally  comes  the 
study  of  the  milling  of  the  grain  and  the  distribution  of  the 
product  as  a  food  supply.  The  student  will  learn  that  the  find- 
ings of  biology  have  a  distinct  bearing  upon  commercial  processes, 
that  all  industries  which  concern  plant  or  animal  production  are 
developed  only  as  progress  is  made  in  biological  research,  and 
that  the  method  of  experiment  is  the  only  way  in  which  real 
progress  can  be  secured. 

Chemistry  offers  interesting  possibilities  for  commercial  and 


214  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

industrial  application  in  the  study  of  processes  and  materials. 
Obviously  the  outline  of  study  in  biology  and  chemistry  in  the 
commercial  course  will  show  wide  divergences  from  the  outline 
usually  followed  in  the  general  high  school.  Commercial  knowl- 
edge will  be  the  primary  aim  and  the  purely  scientific  will  be  the 
by-product.  In  New  York  City  and  other  centers  there  is  a 
decided  tendency  to  modify  the  teaching  of  science  in  the  direc- 
tion I  have  indicated. 

Today  one  of  the  chief  items  in  the  cost  of  producing  a  staple 
article  is  the  expense  of  advertising  it.  The  business  world 
spends  enormous  sums  to  attract  and  secure  customers,  and,  in 
doing  so,  makes  use  of  many  avenues  of  publicity.  Note  the 
numerous  advertisements  appearing  in  magazines  and  other 
publications,  and  observe  the  artistic  care  evidenced  in  their 
presentation.  Not  only  are  the  illustrations  well  drawn  and  at- 
tractive, but  the  lettering  and  arrangement  of  descriptive  matter 
are  also  in  the  best  of  taste.  Clearly  here  is  a  hint  for  the  draw- 
ing department  of  a  commercial  school,  whose  business  it  should 
be  to  develop  a  course  of  study  centering  about  artistic  lettering 
and  advertising  design.  Hundreds  of  articles  of  commerce 
today  owe  a  great  part  of  their  value  to  their  artistic  advertise- 
ment, and  if  only  for  the  refinement  of  taste  which  it  cultivates, 
the  study  of  drawing  in  the  business  school  would  have  a  distinct 
commercial  value. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  dwell  upon  such  subjects  as 
may  be  classed  under  the  head  of  business  technique — arithmetic, 
penmanship,  accounts,  stenography,  typewriting,  and  business  law 
— for  clearly  their  place  in  the  commercial  curriculum  is  obvious 
and  well  assured.  Because  of  their  immediate  practical  impor- 
tance they  must  receive  adequate  time  and  attention  throughout 
the  course.  The  commercial  graduate  properly  trained  in  stenog- 
raphy and  typewriting  has  a  distinct  advantage.  While  it  is  not 
desirable  for  a  capable  young  man  to  settle  down  to  stenography 
and  typewriting  as  a  permanent  occupation,  our  experience  has 
shown  that  training  in  stenography  furnishes  a  stepping-stone 
to  more  important  business  positions.  One  of  our  graduates  re- 
cently wrote  me  on  the  point.  He  says :  "Starting  out,  the  grad- 
uate should  get  his  first  years  of  training  in  a  stenographic 
position.  This  gives  him  an  insight  into  the  work  of  the  inner 
office,  and  I  have  found  from  present  experience  and  from  con- 
versations with  other  commerce  boys  that  the  average  employer 
is  only  too  glad  to  advance  to  higher  positions  the  stenographer 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  215 

who  shows  that  he  is  above  the  job."  I  have  in  mind  now  a  large 
number  of  instances  which  support  this  statement,  though  of 
course  it  should  be  remembered  that  a  well-equipped  commercial 
graduate  has  abundant  opportunity  in  other  directions. 

There  remains  for  consideration  the  subject  whose  rare  value 
for  commercial  training  has  been  tardily  realized — economics. 
Even*  our  best  secondary  commercial  schools  have  as  yet  failed 
to  utilize  to  the  full  the  possibilities  of  this  subject.  Generally 
speaking,  only  piecemeal  courses  of  customary  college  type  are 
offered,  when  what  is  needed  is  a  thoroughly  graded  course, 
continued  through  several  years.  It  may  well  be  that  some  other 
branches  of  study  may  have  to  yield  a  place  to  this  new  subject. 
I  do  not  think  it  would  require  a  great  deal  of  argument  to 
show  that  mathematics,  for  instance,  has  less  to  offer  the  intend- 
ing business  man  than  has  economics.  The  refinements  of  eco- 
nomic theory  will,  of  course,  find  little  place  in  the  secondary 
course.  The  work  should  be  concrete  throughout  and  closely 
related  to  the  practical  side  of  business  training.  It  should  give 
much  attention  to  what  might  be  called  economic  geography.  I 
am  well  aware  that  the  so-called  commercial  geography,  as  it  is 
usually  taught,  is  comparatively  valueless.  It  is  of  little  conse- 
quence for  a  student  to  acquire  a  lot  of  facts  from  a  textbook 
about  the  statistics  of  trade.  They  are  soon  forgotten  and  con- 
tribute very  little  toward  business  training. 

As  typical  of  the  sort  of  economic  work  I  have  in  mind,  I 
would  cite  the  course  we  give  to  first-year  students  in  our 
school,  as  described  in  a  statement  prepared  by  the  head  of  our 
economics  department.  It  is  grouped  around  two  main  ideas — 
New  York  as  a  manufacturing  city  and  New  York  as  a  commer- 
cial city.  We  begin  with  a  report  on  the  occupations  of  the  boy's 
family,  his  friends,  and  his  neighbors,  and  a  study  of  the  indus- 
trial life  on  his  block.  The  student  is  given  the  problem  of 
classifying  the  occupations  and  grouping  the  workers  according 
to  his  classifications.  He  is  then  required  to  study  and  express 
graphically  the  figures  from  the  United  States  census  and  the 
state  census  for  gainful  occupations  in  the  United  States,  New 
York  state,  New  York  City,  and  Manhattan  and  Bronx  boroughs. 
Then  he  combines  the  figures  collected  by  the  boys  of  his  section 
(40)  and  his  class  (500).  The  results  show,  of  course,  that  the 
manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits  and  trade  and  transpor- 
tation are  the  great  groups  of  city  industries. 

We  take  manufacturing  first  as  being  most  interesting  to  the 


216  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

boy,  and  we  begin  the  study  of  the  problem  of  the  manufacturer 
from  a  table  specially  prepared  by  us  from  the  census  report  on 
the  concentration  of  important  manufactures  in  forty-seven 
cities.  The  problem  is  formulated  as  the  assembling  of  raw  ma- 
terial, power,  labor,  and  capital  at  a  place  convenient  to  the 
manufacturer's  market.  Each  of  these  factors  is  studied  in 
detail.  The  following  are  some  of  the  topics  discussed  under 
labor :  population ;  its  composition ;  its  growth  from  immigration, 
from  migration,  and  from  excess  of  births  over  deaths;  the 
effect  of  an  increase  from  each  source  upon  the  efficiency  of  the 
workers  of  the  city;  the  location  and  distribution  of  the  labor 
force  throughout  the  city;  the  effect  of  the  sanitary  regulations 
of  the  Board  of  Health  and  housing  regulations  of  the  Tene- 
ment House  Department,  etc.,  the  systems  of  employment;  why 
the  help,  handicraft,  and  domestic  systems  still  survive  in  this 
city;  the  important  manufactures  of  this  city,  together  with  the 
kind  of  labor  they  use,  and  how  the  labor  supply  has  affected 
them ;  what  manufactures  are  leaving  the  city  on  account  of  the 
labor ;  what  manufactures  are  coming  in  because  of  an  abundant 
supply  of  cheap  labor ;  the  distribution  of  manufactures  through- 
out Manhattan  and  the  greater  city,  and  how  this  distribution  is 
related  to  the  distribution  of  labor ;  how  transportation  improve- 
ments modify  this  distribution,  etc.  In  a  similar  way  are  treated 
the  problem  of  a  supply  of  power,  of  a  supply  of  capital,  of  a 
supply  of  raw  material,  and  of  access  to  a  market.  The  natural 
advantages  New  York  has  for  commerce — its  harbors,  its  inland 
waterways,  its  situation,  and  its  hinterland  with  its  products — is 
the  first  topic  taken  up  in  the  second  half-term.  The  improve- 
ments of  these  natural  advantages  and  the  sharing  of  the  work  of 
improvement  on  the  high  seas,  throughout  the  hinterland  and  in 
the  harbor  by  the  national,  state,  and  city  governments,  respec- 
tively, is  the  second  topic.  The  general  idea  of  a  great  seaport 
that  the  boys  formulate  from  a  study  of  the  great  ports  of  the 
world  is  that  it  is  favorably  situated  on  the  coast  where  it  can 
draw  unto  itself  the  products  of  the  near  hinterland  and  dis- 
tribute them  over  the  world,  and  that  it  gathers  together  the 
products  of  the  lands  beyond  the  seas,  and  distributes  them  over 
the  near  and  far  hinterland.  These  topics  are  worked  out  in 
detail  like  that  of  the  labor  supply,  already  described.  The 
course  is  concluded  with  a  simple  outline  of  the  work  of  banks, 
trust  companies,  and  stock  exchanges  in  supplying  the  necessary 
capital  for  manufacture  and  for  trade. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  217 

The  boy  has  now  secured  a  generalized  and  systematic  view 
of  the  trade  and  manufactures  of  his  city  and  has  obtained  a 
fund  of  detailed  and  specific  information  about  the  part  he  and 
his  neighborhood  play  in  making  New  York  a  great  city.  The 
boy  is  studying  an  economic  unity,  the  metropolitan  district,  and 
he  is  comparing  it,  whenever  possible,  with  the  United  States 
and  the  world.  He  has  learned  to  use  statistics  compiled  by 
others  and  he  has  helped  compile  some  of  his  own.  His  gen- 
eralizations are  economic  generalizations,  he  has  learned  to 
formulate  economic  principles,  and  he  has  observed  the  operation 
of  economic  laws.  We  believe  that  this  study  has  supplied  him 
for  his  future  study  of  economics  with  a  concrete  background, 
which  will  be  filled  out  in  the  later  years  of  the  course  by  the 
study  of  his  civic  environment  and  his  more  formal  study  of 
commercial  geography  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  world. 

This  method  of  beginning  economics  can  be  applied  in  almost 
every  school.  The  local  economic  unit  will  furnish  all  the  mate- 
rial that  the  teacher  can  utilize.  It  means  work  for  the  in- 
structor, but  the  trained  and  enthusiastic  teacher  will  find  the 
task  full  of  interest  to  himself  and  to  the  pupils. 

Following  upon  the  study  of  the  city  comes  a  similar  study  of 
New  York  state.  The  chief  extractive  industries  are  considered 
—farming,  fruit-growing,  lumbering,  mining,  etc. — and  later  the 
most  important  manufactures  and  the  transportation  and  bank- 
ing facilities.  After  this  study  of  local  commercial  geography, 
the  student  is  ready  to  go  on  to  a  consideration  of  the  economic 
geography  of  the  United  States,  taking  up  such  topics  as  physio- 
graphic regions  and  conditions,  location  and  distribution  of 
manufactures,  marketing,  transportation,  exports  and  imports. 
He  will  be  called  upon  to  make  a  careful  study  of  some  one  par- 
ticular topic,  using  material  to  be  found  in  governmental  reports. 
This  particular  work  is  scheduled  for  the  second  year.  In  the 
third  year  he  will  make  a  careful  study  of  the  principal  countries 
having  commercial  relations  with  the  United  States. 

The  study  of  economic  geography  gives  the  pupil  an  excellent 
preparation  for  the  short  course  in  economic  theory  prescribed 
for  the  first  half  of  the  fourth  year.  By  way  of  concluding  the 
work  the  final  half-year  is  devoted  to  the  trust  problem  or  cor- 
poration finance  and  the  money  and  banking  questions.  That 
high-school  seniors  can  do  intelligent  and  profitable  work  of  this 
character  I  think  has  been  clearly  demonstrated.  Perhaps  no 
other  subject  is  comparable  to  economics  in  the  inspiration  it 


218  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

gives  the  student  to  go  on  with  his  studies  after  the  secondary- 
school  days  are  over.  I  find  our  graduates  practically  unanimous 
in  testifying  to  the  great  practical  value  of  the  economics  course 
pursued  by  them. 

So  much  for  the  course  of  study.  Of  exceeding  importance 
is  the  method  of  teaching.  There  must  be  a  careful  avoidance 
of  the  tendency  to  make  commercial  training  merely  or  largely 
informational.  The  teacher  in  a  commercial  school  who  does  not 
consistently  employ  the  problem  method  in  instruction,  who  does 
not  strive  for  the^  secure  real  thinking,  may  be  doing  something 
interesting  but  he  is  not  training  business  men. 

Much  might  be  said  with  reference  to  certain  auxiliary  fea- 
tures of  the  work  of  a  commercial  school — its  relation  to  busi- 
nuess  organizations  and  business  men;  its  study  of  vocational 
opportunities,  and  its  touch  with  its  graduates  in  the  business 
world.  During  the  past  few  months  we  have  gathered  a  mass 
of  interesting  information  from  such  of  our  graduates  as  we 
could  reach,  touching  upon  the  character  of  the  work  they  are 
now  doing,  their  progress  since  graduation,  and  the  scope  and 
quality  of  their  school  preparations  as  tested  by  their  actual  ex- 
periences in  business.  Our  most  helpful  critics  are  not  the  busi- 
ness men,  but  our  own  graduates,  who  are  able  to  speak  defi- 
nitely of  the  strength  or  weakness  of  the  courses  prescribed  in 
the  commercial  curriculum. 

In  conclusion  I  would  say  that  the  commercial  school  ought 
not  to  limit  its  activity  to  day  instruction.  In  every  city  there  are 
hundreds  of  young  men  who  would  profit  immensely  by  the  op- 
portunity of  securing  instruction  in  evening  courses.  Many  of 
these  have  been  day  students  who  were  obliged,  through  neces- 
sity, to  cut  short  their  school  career.  Many  are  graduates  of 
general  high  schools  and  colleges,  who  would  gladly  add  to  their 
business  equipment.  Perhaps  the  day  may  come  when  the  com- 
mercial school  may  be  able  to  give  continuation  courses,  as  is 
done  abroad — say  from  four  to  six  in  the  afternoon.  If  em- 
ployers could  be  made  to  see  the  advantages  of  this  arrangement, 
the  way  would  be  easy.  In  this  direction  some  attempt  at  least 
should  be  made  to  widen  the  usefulness  of  the  commercial  school. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  219 

"EDUCATION  FOR  BUSINESS,"  THE 

BOSTON  HIGH  SCHOOL  OF 

COMMERCE1 

The  Boston  High  School  of  Commerce  was  opened  in  Sep- 
tember, 1906,  with  142  pupils.  Its  membership  in  succeeding 
years  has  been  332,  554,  721,  967,  and  1078.  Owing  to  lack  of 
accommodation,  the  school  has  been  obliged  to  deny  admission 
to  at  least  500  boys  during  the  last  three  years :  at  present  two 
main  divisions  of  the  school  are  one-half  mile  apart.  These  few 
statements  show  to  a  certain  extent  the  demand  in  the  city  for 
the  kind  of  work  the  school  is  doing.  The  object  of  this  paper 
is  to  tell  as  directly  as  possible  what  that  work  is — to  show  how 
one  school  is  trying  to  fit  high-school  boys  for  business.  The 
paper  tries  to  set  forth  some  educational  practice  rather  than 
educational  theory.  It  seems  to  me  eminently  fitting  to  put  on 
the  market  reports  of  a  few  educational  experiments  at  the  pres- 
ent time  when  so  many  new  theories  are  being  launched  forth 
by  educational  promoters. 

In  its  earlier  years,  the  school  was  popularly  called  Commer- 
cial High  School,  and  even  some  official  publications  of  the  city 
used  that  name.  The  first  h'ead  master  of  the  school  insisted 
that  this  was  a  misnomer.  He  maintained  that  a  commercial 
high  school  centered  its  work  around  such  distinctly  commercial 
subjects  as  bookkeeping,  stenography,  and  typewriting,  and  pre- 
pared for  secretarial  positions ;  or,  as  one  of  the  boys  of  the 
school  said  recently  in  class,  for  the  passive  side  of  business.  A 
high  school  of  commerce  on  the  other  hand,  he  maintained,  offers 
a  more  liberal  course  and  prepares  for  the  competitive,  or  active, 
side  of  the  business.  A  high  school  of  commerce  includes  all 
the  work  of  a  commercial  high  school  and  more.  This  point  of 
view  has  been  quite  generally  accepted  in  the  city  so  that  we  now 
hear  but  seldom  any  name  other  than  the  High  School  of  Com- 
merce. 

The  aim  of  the  school  can  be  stated  briefly:  to  give  its  pupils 
the  best  possible  preparation  for  a  career  of  business  usefulness 

1  By  James  E.  Downey.   Journal  of  Political  Economy.  21:221-42.  March, 


220  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

in  Boston,  either  municipal  or  metropolitan.  This  statement  of 
the  aim  carries  with  it  the  thought  that  the  school  takes  no  con- 
cern about  any  of  its  pupils  who  may  wish  to  go  to  college. 
That  work  is  being  done  well  by  other  high  schools  in  the  city 
and  boys  who  may  wish  to  go  to  college  are  expected  to  go  to 
one  of  these  schools. 

It  is  not  the  attitude  of  the  school  that  the  boy  must  neces- 
sarily show  some  very  decided  business  bent  in  elementary- 
school  days  to  warrant  his  attendance  at  the  High  School  of 
Commerce.  The  demand  for  service  in  the  business  world  is 
great  and  varied :  if  a  boy  has  a  general  notion  that  he  wishes 
to  enter  upon  a  business  career,  the  school  is  pleased  to  receive 
him,  to  train  him  as  well  as  possible,  and  to  try  to  place  him  is 
that  avenue  of  business  activity  where  he  can  use  his  capacities 
to  best  advantage. 

The  school  does  not  promise  to  get  the  boys  positions ;  that 
would  be  unprofessional,  and  the  promise  would  be  a  hard  one 
to  fulfil,  since  the  actual  hiring  of  boys  is  done  by  agencies  out- 
side the  school.  Our  promise  is  to  do  our  best  to  secure  posi- 
tions for  such  boys  as  make  a  satisfactory  record  with  us.  Thus 
far  our  graduating  classes  have  numbered  19,  9,  41,  91,  and  113, 
and  no  boy  can  rightly  complain  of  the  way  that  promise  has 
been  made  to  apply  to  him. 

The  course  of  study  is  largely  a  required  one.  This  is  so  for 
two  reasons.  First,  the  teachers  of  the  school,  as  a  result  of 
their  experience  and  investigation,  know  better  than  boys  or 
parents  what  steps  are  necessary  to  take  them  from  the  level 
from  which  they  came  to  the  level  for  which  they  are  ambitious. 
Second,  a  man  in  business  often  has  to  do  things  that  he  does 
not  like  or  that  he  is  not  fitted  for  if  he  wishes  to  discharge 
properly  the  responsibilities  of  his  position  in  life.  For  this 
same  reason  we  offer  no  apology  to  boys  for  asking  them  to  do 
work  that  they  do  not  like,  or  that  they  are  not  fitted  for,  when 
we  think  that  such  work  is  necessary  for  preparing  properly  for 
the  responsibilities  of  business  life. 

When  they  first  enter  the  school,  they  choose  between  Span- 
ish, German,  and  French.  Whichever  they  take  they  have  to 
study  for  their  entire  four  years.  This  choice  is  the  only  one 
that  they  have  during  their  first  two  years.  Their  other  studies 
are,  in  the  first  year,  penmanship  and  elementary  bookkeeping 
forms,  elementary  science,  mathematics  (largely  commercial 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  221 

arithmetic)  and  English;  in  the  second  year,  history  and  com- 
mercial geography,  mathematics  (largely  commercial  arithmetic), 
bookkeeping,  and  English.  The  third-year  studies  are  bookkeep- 
ing, typewriting,  chemistry,  and  English,  in  addition  to  the  re- 
quired modern  language  and  to  stenography  (to  be  followed  two 
years),  or  geometry,  or  advanced  arithmetic.  In  the  fourth  year, 
besides  the  modern  language  the  studies  are  economics,  commer- 
cial law  and  civil  government,  English,  and  typewriting,  and,  as 
an  additional  subject,  stenography  (continuous  elective),  or 
bookkeeping,  or  chemistry,  or  solid  geometry,  algebra,  and  trig- 
onometry. During  the  last  two  years,  instruction  is  given  in 
commercial  design,  but  this  is  an  extra  study  which  does  not 
count  toward  a  diploma. 

During  the  course,  lectures  are  given  to  the  pupils,  a  report 
of  which  will  be  given  separately.  Our  course  of  study  calls  for 
a  fifth-year  special  course,  designed  primarily  for  graduates  who 
wish  to  come  back  to  school  and  take  a  part-time  course,  and 
for  graduates  of  other  high  schools.  At  present  it  seems  inex- 
pedient to  encourage  this  course. 

Practically  all  studies  require  five  meetings  a  week.  Each 
pupil  is  expected  to  carry  five  studies. 

When  the  school  opened,  in  1906,  the  school  session  in  prac- 
tically all  the  city  high  schools  was  five  hours  in  length,  and  it 
was  so  in  the  High  School  of  Commerce  during  the  first  year. 
It  was  pointed  out  to  the  school  during  the  year  by  certain  busi- 
ness men  that  such  hours  were  hardly  consistent  with  the  busi- 
ness hours  of  the  city,  and  they  recommended  a  longer  session. 
Those  intrusted  with  the  management  of  the  school  recognized 
the  argument  and  accordingly  recommended  the  present  hours 
to  the  School  Committee,  and  the  recommendation  was  adopted. 
The  school  now  is  in  session  five  hours  and  fifty-one  minutes — 
from  8:55  to  2.46.  Of  this  time,  ten  minutes  are  given  up  to 
opening  exercises,  44  minutes  to  recess  and  passing,  and  10 
minutes  to  light  gymnastic  exercises.  The  remainder  of  the 
time  is  divided  into  seven  periods  of  41  minutes  each.  These 
hours  and  the  home  lessons  suggest  such  a  plan  of  life  as  this 
for  the  boys :  rise  not  later  than  7 ;  play  after  school  until  5 ; 
study  from  5  to  6,  and  from  7  or  7 :30  until  lessons  are  finished ; 
and  retire  not  later  than  10. 

School  spirit  is  one  of  the  very  valuable  assets  of  any  school. 
Each  school  has  its  own  distinctive  spirit  and  its  own  ways  of 


222  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

fostering  it.  A  school  which  fits  boys  for  business  must  have 
an  individuality  peculiar  to  its  problem.  Special  study  is  there- 
fore given  to  the  question  of  having  the  school  spirit  help  in 
turning  out  such  young  men  as  are  expected  from  the  school. 

A  boy  should  leave  the  school  with  a  spirit  of  being  willing 
to  work  and  of  being  willing  to  take  whatever  tasks  are  given 
him  to  do,  within  proper  limitations;  he  should  take  up  his  work 
with  pleasure  and  enthusiasm ;  he  should  be  intensely  loyal  to 
his  employers,  and  he  must  measure  his  worth  by  results  rather 
than  by  hours.  It  is  the  function  of  the  school  spirit  to  help  con- 
tribute these  factors  to  the  boy's  preparation. 

The  school  spirit  of  the  High  School  of  Commerce  is  aided 
by  a  number  of  features  which  may  be  touched  upon  briefly. 
Decided  effort  is  made  to  keep  the  pupils  happy  at  their  work, 
while  the  same  effort  is  made  to  keep  them  working  all  the  time. 
Musical  associations  are  strongly  encouraged,  and  about  one- 
tenth  of  the  school,  during  school  hours  under  the  direction  of 
one  of  the  teachers  engage  in  some  one  of  the  musical  activities 
of  the  school,  which  include  a  band,  two  orchestras,  two  glee 
clubs,  and  a  string  quartet.  Athletics  is  strongly  encouraged  and 
practically  all  the  boys  of  the  school  belong  to  the  athletic  asso- 
ciation. No  boy  whose  school  record  will  not  warrant  it  is 
allowed  to  represent  the  school  in  the  practical  work,  about  which 
more  information  will  be  given  later.  The  ideals  and  habits  that 
go  to  make  up  a  successful  business  man  are  those  which  are 
insisted  on  throughout  the  school.  All  these  forces  working  to- 
gether throughout  the  school  hours  and  through  the  medium  of 
studies,  most  of  which  are  in  the  course  of  study  for  their  vo- 
cational value,  have  produced  a  school  spirit  which  is  very  help- 
ful in  preparing  boys  for  their -life-work. 

In  a  vocational  school,  there  should  be  practical  work.  In  a 
high  school  of  commerce,  the  opportunities  for  such  practical 
work  are  very  great.  If  the  co-operation  of  the  stores  is  neces- 
sary, the  merchants  of  the  city  are  most  willing  to  co-operate. 
In  Boston,  however,  the  work  is  able  to  stand  on  its  feet  on 
account  of  its  own  real  worth.  In  but  very  few  cases  are  the 
boys  of  the  school  taken  into  a  store  for  practical  work  merely 
as  a  courtesy  to  the  school.  Usually  the  boys  earn  whatever 
they  are  paid.  The  courtesy  from  the  stores — and  it  is  courtesy 
we  very  much  appreciate — takes  the  form  of  coming  for  their 
help  to  us  rather  than  to  the  other  possible  sources  in  the  city. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION      -  223 

It  almost  seems  to  me  that  the  possibilities  of  this  practical  work 
in  connection  with  the  school  are  limited  only  by  the  efforts  of 
the  teachers  and  pupils  working  together  in  searching  out  the 
possibilities.  More  and  more  are  the  boys  looking  out  for  them- 
selves in  the  matter  of  getting  this  practical  work.  The  concern 
of  the  school  seems  to  be  more  and  more  to  foster  the  tradition 
in  the  school  that  a  boy  who  looks  after  himself  in  this  regard 
gets  more  credit  in  the  official  records  of  the  school,  on  account 
of  initiative  shown,  than  a  boy  who  is  placed  by  the  school.  The 
school  further  concerns  itself  with  so  systematizing  this  practical 
work  that  it  will  be  of  as  much  value  as  possible  to  the  boys. 

This  feature  of  practical  work  finds  expression  in  four  prin- 
cipal ways :  Saturday  work,  occasional  assignments  during  the 
year,  work  at  Christmas,  and  summer  apprenticeship  work.  In 
addition,  many  boys  do  after-school  work;  but  this  work  is 
fraught  with  so  much  danger  to  the  boy's  progress  in  school  that 
official  notice  is  not  taken  of  it. 

By  all  means  of  getting  practical  experience,  the  boys  of  the 
school  earned  between  $35,000  and  $40,000  last  year;  at  the  time 
figures  on  this  question  were  collected,  there  were  about  900  boys 
in  school. 

Saturday  work  is  very  much  encouraged.  Work  at  Christ- 
mas time  depends  on  the  boy's  standing  in  his  class  work :  only 
the  boys  of  such  a  grade  of  scholarship  as  warrants  it  are 
allowed  to  take  this  work.  The  boys  who  are  sent  out  for  a  day 
or  two  at  a  time  during  the  year  must  also  maintain  such  a  grade 
of  scholarship  as  to  warrant  it.  It  is  from  the  summer  work, 
however,  that  we  expect  our  greatest  returns.  The  importance 
of  this  feature  can  be  estimated  when  I  tell  you  that  65  per  cent 
of  the  boys  worked  during  the  past  summer.  The  397  boys 
working  under  this  scheme  earned  nearly  $17,000.  This  made 
an  average  of  over  $5.00  per  week  for  each  boy  while  he  worked. 
This  figure  compared  with  about  $10,000  earned  the  summer  be- 
fore by  352  boys.  Moreover,  the  boys  found  more  of  the  posi- 
tions for  themselves  this  past  summer :  where  four  years  ago  the 
school  placed  directly  75  per  cent  of  those  who  worked  during 
the  summer,  this  year  the  school  placed  20  per  cent.  The  efforts 
of  the  teachers  are  now  concerned  with  directing  a  boy  how  to 
find  a  summer  position  and  where  to  find  one,  rather  than  to  find 
it  for  him. 

This  practical  work  of  the  school  is  one  of  its  important  fea- 


224  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

tures:  boys  plan  for  it  as  they  do  for  their  other  school  work. 
A  boy  who  has  had  no  practical  experience  before  he  graduates 
from  the  school  is  considered  more  or  less  in  disgrace,  and  is  the 
rare  exception. 

Boys  bring  back  reports  for  all  employment  work  to  which 
they  are  assigned;  these  reports,  filled  out  by  the  employers,  are 
placed  on  file  and  are  consulted  from  time  to  time  as  the  need 
arises. 

The  regular  classroom  work  is  supplemented  by  special  lec- 
tures, which  make  a  decided  contribution  to  the  school.  Some 
of  the  lecturers  are  paid  and  some  contribute  their  services.  The 
general  purpose  of  the  lectures  can  be  best  explained  by  giving 
the  general  nature  of  several  of  the  courses.  One  series  given 
to  the  Seniors  is  made  up  of  ten  lectures  on  transportation  in 
New  England,  six  on  advertising,  six  on  salesmanship,  and  about 
twenty  on  commercial  possibilities  in  South  America.  Another 
series  of  lectures  given  to  the  Seniors  is  made  up  of  ten  lectures 
on  "Economic  Resources  of  the  United  States"  and  about 
twenty-five  lectures  under  the  general  head  of  "Office  Routine" ; 
in  this  course  are  explained  various  details  and  incidentals  of 
office  work  and  convention,  with  demonstrations  of  advertising 
and  salesmanship.  Another  set  of  lectures  is  given  to  the 
Junior  class  under  the  general  head  of  "Local  Industries" ;  it 
comprises  six  lectures  on  the  leather  business,  three  on  textile 
industries,  three  on  banks  of  Boston,  three  on  historical,  com- 
mercial Boston  (illustrated),  and  about  twelve  on  various  in- 
dustries of  New  England.  Another  set  of  lectures  is  given  to 
the  school  as  a  whole  upon  general  business,  economic  and  civic 
subjects. 

Too  much  importance  cannot  be  attached  to  the  need  of  an 
efficient  teaching  staff.  Of  much  more  importance  than  a  suit- 
able building,  a  favorable  location,  a  proper  course  of  study, 
abundance  of  books,  supplies,  and  equipment,  is  proper  instruc- 
tion for  the  special  need  of  a  high  school  of  commerce, 
teachers  are  not  yet  trained.  It  will  be  many  years  before  we 
have  a  set  of  teachers  trained  for  this  particular  line  of  work 
as  well  as  those  are  trained  who  are  engaged  in  the  classical 
education.  We  who  are  now  at  work  must  do  our  best  to  meet 
the  oncoming  competition  in  this  line  of  work  and  also  to  gather 
such  experience  and  information  as  will  enable  the  next  genera- 
tion of  teachers  to  work  more  effectively. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  225 

To  get  the  necessary  kind  of  teachers,  adequate  salaries  will 
have  to  be  paid.  At  least  six  of  our  teachers  have  had  offers 
from  business  houses  at  advanced  salaries.  A  city  will  get  in 
the  way  of  instruction  just  what  it  pays  for.  If  it  wants  only 
$1,000  work  done,  then  $1,000  is  enough  for  salary;  but  if  it 
wants  the  benefit  of  service  which  is  worth  $2,000  or  $3,000  in 
the  open  market,  then  it  must  not  expect  to  get  it  by  offering  a 
salary  of  $1,500  or  $1,800.  If  it  wants  as  teachers  men  who  can 
prepare  boys  to  take  up  the  more  responsible  positions  in  busi- 
ness organizations,  then  it  will  have  to  offer  suitable  salaries. 
The  past  year  has  seen  perhaps  a  greater  advance  in  teachers' 
salaries  throughout  the  country  than  any  year  ever  before. 
While  we  are  in  the  midst  of  this  movement  for  better  salaries 
for  teachers,  I  wish  to  enter  a  special  word  in  advocacy  for  a 
salary  that  will  attract  suitable  teachers  into  the  work  of  a  high 
school  of  commerce. 

A  teacher  in  a  high  school  of  commerce  must  be  equipped 
with  a  liberal  education  and  good  habits  of  study,  and  he  must 
further  be  an  authority  in  the  line  in  which  he  teaches.  He 
should  belong  to  the  distinctly  commercial  or  semi-commercial 
bodies  in  his  city;  he  should  form  a  business  acquaintance  with 
the  best  firms  of  the  city,  and  should  frequently  be  seen  in  the 
gatherings  of  business  men ;  and  above  all  he  should  have  a  great 
love  for  his  own  city  and  full  confidence  as  to  its  future  pros- 
pects. 

One  of  the  questions  that  is  immediately  asked  about  our 
school  is:  "What  are  the  alumni  doing?"  When  this  question 
is  put  to  me,  I  am  not  sure  what  kind  of  answer  is  expected. 
The  people  before  me  know  it  takes  time  to  train  a  person  for 
a  particular  career.  The  school  has  been  in  existence  six  years. 
Its  aim  has  not  been  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  its  pupils  get- 
rich-quick  ideas;  its  object  has  not  been  to  be  able  to  gather  as 
quickly  as  possible  a  set  of  statistics  showing  what  wage  the 
boys  have  received  year  by  year  after  graduation,  and  showing 
how  the  wages  compared  with  those  of  the  boys  of  other  high 
schools.  Such  reports  as  these  appeal  to  me  as  being  more  or 
less  sensational  rather  than  professional.  The  aim  of  the  school 
has  been  above  all  to  develop  a  man,  to  give  him  such  a  fund  of 
knowledge  about  his  own  city  as  was  possible,  and  to  give  him 
such  vocational  instruction  as  he  could  assimilate  in  the  four 
years  he  was  intrusted  to  our  care.  We  do  not  mean  to  say  that 
we  are  not  watchful  over  our  alumni.  On  the  contrary,  we  are 


226  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

very  watchful.  When  we  think  that  they  are  not  progressing  so 
rapidly  as  we  think  they  should,  we  try  to  find  the  cause  and 
remedy  it.  When  we  think  that  they  are  trying  to  progress  too 
rapidly,  we  do  our  best  to  set  them  right. 

In  general,  I  should  report  of  our  graduates  that  most  of 
them  go  into  the  distributive  side  of  business.  Very  few  go  to 
college. 

Our  principal  way,  at  present,  of  getting  information  about 
our  alumni  is  through  a  general  letter  in  which  we  ask  the 
following  questions : 

1.  Mention  places  employed  since  graduation,  giving  dates.     Give  pay 
received. 

2.  Have  you   worked  for  any  of  these  concerns  during  your  summer 
vacation  ? 

3.  If  you  have  changed  houses  mention  the  reason. 

4.  What  parts  of  the  school  training  have  been  most  useful  to  you  in 
your  work? 

5.  How  could  the  school  have  helped  you  more  than  it  did? 

6.  Are  there  any  opportunities  for  summer  employment  or  permanent 
positions  with  your  firm.     To  whom  should  communications  be  sent? 

7.  In  what  lines  of  work  do  you  find  good  opportunities  for  alumni  of 
this  school? 

8.  Can  you  give   any   information   regarding   other   alumni? 
(Additional  suggestions  and  information  will  be  gladly  received.) 

Information  like  this  will  be  asked  for  from  our  alumni  during 
the  first,  third,  sixth,  and  tenth  years  after  graduation. 

One  of  the  lessons  we  try  to  teach  is  that  of  thrift.  This  is 
done  in  one  way  by  not  making  continual  appeals  to  attract 
away  a  part  of  the  weekly  allowance  of  the  boys ;  in  a  second  way 
it  is  done  by  encouraging  the  boys  to  make  weekly  deposits  in 
the  school  savings  bank.  The  object  and  work  of  this  bank  can 
best  be  shown  by  making  a  few  extracts  from  a  circular  letter 
sent  to  the  parents  of  all  the  pupils  in  school : 

The  bank  has  now  been  in  existence  in  school  for  nearly  a  year.  The 
extent  to  which  it  has  been  used  by  the  teachers,  pupils,  and  organizations 
of  the  school  has  more  than  fulfilled  expectations.  During  the  year  there 
were  25  bank  days;  the  total  deposits  were  $2,862.11;  342  accounts  were 
opened;  $210.70  was  drawn  out  during  the  year;  the  balance  in  the  bank  at 
the  end  of  the  school  year  was  $2,651.41;  the  total  number  of  deposits 
during  the  year  was  1,968;  the  average  daily  individual  deposit  was  $1.44; 
the  average  daily  total  deposit  was  $106.49;  the  average  total  deposit  of  each 
depositor  was  $8.37;  average  total  withdrawal  of  each  depositor  was  $0.64; 
average  net  deposit  of  each  depositor  was  $7.73. 

One  day  each  week  is  known  as  "Bank  Day,"  and  during  one  period  of 
that  day,  pupils  desiring  to  make  deposits  go  from  their  several  rooms  to 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  227 

the  banking-rooms  and  make  their  deposits,  the  amount  of  each  deposit  being 
entered  upon  a  "Deposit  Card"  which  will  be  kept  by  the  pupil.  The 
money  so  received  is  deposited  in  the  Home  Savings  Bank  in  my  name  as 
trustee.  When  the  total  amount  deposited  by  any  one  pupil  amounts  to 
$3.00,  the  Home  Savings  Bank,  on  the  last  "Bank  Day"  preceding  the  quar- 
terly dates  on  which  money  goes  on  interest,  will  issue  a  depositor's  pass 
book,  and  thereafter  when  the  amount  deposited  by  him  equals  the  sum  of 
$1.00,  it  shall  be  transferred  by  the  bank  to  his  pass  book.  Deposits  made 
by  the  pupils  may  be  withdrawn  in  whole  or  in  part  on  any  "Bank  Day" 
by  an  order  signed  by  both  pupil  and  parent  or  guardian.  Deposits  of  five 
cents  and  upward  are  received.  On  "Bank  Day"  the  Home  Savings  Bank 
sends  a  representative  to  the  school  to  receive  the  deposit  of  that  day,  but 
all  clerical  work  connected  with  the  receiving  of  deposits  is  done  by  pupils 
chosen  for  their  fitness  to  do  that  work.  In,  order  that  the  pupils  of  the 
school  may,  in  addition  to  cultivating  habits  of  thrift,  gain  practical  experi- 
ence in  banking,  as  much  of  the  work  connected  with  the  operation  of  the 
bank  as  is  expedient  is  done  by  the  pupils.  They  have  already  elected  a 
Board  of  Trustees,  each  home  room  having  a  representative  on  the  board, 
and  this  board  has  elected  its  own  officers,  a  president,  vice-president,  secre- 
tary, treasurer,  and  assistant  treasurer. 

To  aid  in  assuring  the  success  of  the  High  School  of  Commerce  Savings 
Bank,  we  ask  your  earnest  co-operation  by  giving  the  boys  all  the  encourage- 
ment you  can.  There  are  numerous  little  ways  in  which  boys  can  save  if 
they  are  reminded  of  them,  and  it  should  not  be  difficult  to  show  them  the 
wisdom  of  doing  so.  We  earnestly  believe  that  the  teaching  of  thrift  goes 
hand  in  hand  with  the  training  for  business  which  the  boys  of  the  High 
School  of  Commerce  are  receiving,  and  we  think  you  will  agree  with  us  that 
in  no  way  can  the  school  be  of  greater  or  more  permanent  benefit  to  its 
pupils  than  by  helping  them  to  form  early  in  life  habits  of  thrift  and 
economy. 

Finally,  the  High  School  of  Commerce  Savings  Bank  does  not  wish  to 
interfere  with  any  scheme  of  saving  which  certain  boys  of  the  school  may 
be  carrying  out.  In  such  cases,  it  is  for  the  boy  and  the  parent  to  decide  as 
to  whether  it  would  be  a  wise  thing  to  transfer  his  savings  to  the  school 
savings  bank. 

The  heads  of  departments  of  the  school,  with  their  respective 
departments,  are  as  follows :  Oscar  C.  Gallagher,  English  depart- 
ment; Joel  Hatheway,  Modern  Language  Department;  Winthrop 
Tirrell,  Economic  and  History  Department ;  Newton  D.  Clarke, 
Mathematics  Department;  Raymond  G.  Laird,  Business  Tech- 
nique Department;  Owen  D.  Evans,  Science  Department.  The 
work  in  salesmanship  is  in  charge  of  Maurice  J.  Lacey.  The 
men  have  submitted  the  following  brief  reports  in  answer  to  the 
question,  "How  is  the  work  for  which  you  are  responsible  meet- 
ing the  needs  of  the  school?" 


228  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

Business  Technique  Department 

The  function  of  the  department  of  business  technique  is  to 
ascertain  the  requirements,  in  the  way  of  clerical  training,  that  a 
typical  business  man  would  place  on  the  output  of  our  school, 
and  to  meet  that  demand  in  so  far  as  practicable. 

Good  handwriting  is  always  demanded.  In  addition  to  the 
half-year  of  instruction  that  the  pupil  receives,  he  is  required,  in 
connection  with  his  various  studies,  to  do  his  written  work  care- 
fully and  in  accordance  with  the  style  of  the  adopted  forms.  In 
the  Senior  year,  that  he  may  be  sent  out  to  his  first  position  a 
credit  to  himself  and  to  the  school,  one  period  each  second  week 
is  given  to  a  review  of  penmanship. 

Bookkeeping  is  taught  with  the  double  purpose  of  giving  a 
training  in  a  bread-winning  vocation,  and  of  giving  to  those  who 
may  never  become  practitioners,  such  an  understanding  of  the 
methods  and  purposes  of  accounts  that  they  may  not  be  at  a  dis- 
advantage from  the  operations  of  dishonest  bookkeepers,  and 
that  they  may  comprehend  to  the  fullest  extent  the  conditions 
reflected  by  business  and  financial  statements.  Pupils  are  drilled 
in  drawing  up  a  large  number  of  forms  and  papers  incident  to 
several  types  of  businesses.  Study  is  made  of  the  accounts  of 
retail  and  wholesale  trading  businesses,  of  commission  concerns, 
and  of  manufacturing  enterprises.  In  all  these  instances,  the 
transaction  comes  to  the  pupil  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  form 
and  manner  that  it  reaches  the  real  business  house,  and  he  dis- 
poses of  the  clerical  end  much  as  if  he  were  engaged  in  an  actual 
office.  A  large  amount  of  very  valuable  information  is  secured 
regarding  the  administration  of  these  businesses  and  of  the  rou- 
tine of  their  counting-rooms. 

That  portion  of  the  student  body  that  selects  the  secretarial 
course  gets  the  same  clerical  training  as  above  outlined  to  the 
completion  of  the  third  year  and  in1  addition  phonography  is 
taken  during  the  third  and  fourth  years.  The  dictation  given 
these  pupils  includes  correspondence  from  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  businesses,  from  editorials  of  leading  daily  papers,  and 
from  congressional  matter.  The  thorough  use  of  one  make*  of 
typewriter  is  required,  and  some  familiarity  with  one  or  two 
others  is  given.  Plans  are  being  made  to  introduce  a  phono- 
graph office  machine  for  use  in  connection  with  the  work  of  this 
department. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  229 

Mathematics  Department 

The  department  of  mathematics  has  defined  its  problem  as  an 
attempt  to  train  boys  mathematically  for  the  work  which  they 
expect  to  enter.  This,  from  the  purpose  of  the  school,  means  to 
nearly  all  the  students  some  form  of  commercial  employment. 
About  10  per  cent  may  have  a  higher  school  in  view,  and  for 
such  boys  the  usual  fitting  courses  are  provided;  but  these 
courses,  having  nothing  distinctive,  may  be  disregarded  in  any 
discussion  of  the  work  of  the  department. 

The  work  of  the  first  two  years  is  a  continuous  course  in 
arithmetic,  and  in  such  topics  of  algebra,  geometry,  and  com- 
mercial arithmetic  as  can  be  related  to  the  course  and  serve  to 
extend  the  mathematical  training  of  the  student. 

We  need  here  to  define  what  is  needed  and  aimed  at  in  this 
training.  By  general  agreement  among  business  men,  the  one 
mathematical  requirement  is  accuracy.  Rapidity  is  a  very  minor 
consideration.  Neatness  is,  of  course,  an  important  quality.  It 
is,  however,  plainly  not  a  special  mathematical  quality,  but  ex- 
tends to  all  work.  But  the  general  demand  of  business  men  is 
for  boys  who  can  get  things  right.  Now  the  problem  of  obtain- 
ing accuracy  is  one  of  training.  The  boy  must  be  given  prob- 
lems which  he  can  do,  and  he  must  be  trained  to  get  them  invari- 
ably right.  The  average  pupil  entering  the  high  school  has  de- 
veloped no  conscience  in  this  particular.  He  is  satisfied  to  do 
his  work,  and  take  the  chances  of  its  accuracy.  To  develop  such 
a  conscience  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  which  we  have 
to  meet,  and  is  the  aim  of  all  our  work.  It  is  not  that  the  boy  is 
unable  to  do  correct  work,  but  that  he  is  indifferent  to  incorrect 
work;  and  he  must  be  trained  until  the  habit  of  checking,  re- 
peating, and  revising  answers  becomes  his  settled  habit. 

The  method  taken  is  largely  that  of  individual  problems. 
These  problems  are  kept  in  sets,  similar  in  scope  and  difficulty, 
but  each  different,  and  each  boy  is  given  one  to  compute  and  get 
the  correct  result.  To  give  more  interest,  and  impart  informa- 
tion, the  problems  are  drawn  from  sources  in  which  the  boys 
are  interested.  Some  of  the  sources  are :  the  reports  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Boston,  the  reports  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  and  the  reports  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture. 

When  a  boy  has  completed  the  two  years'  course,  we  expect 


230  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

that  he  can  do  these  things  and  do  them  correctly.  He  can  add, 
subtract,  multiply,  and  divide  integers,  decimals,  and  common 
fractions  with  small  commercial  denominators.  He  can  com- 
pute simple  and  compound  interest;  he  can  reckon  commercial 
discounts;  he  can  figure  the  bank  discount  on  a  note;  he  can 
solve  the  usual  algebraic  equations,  and  can  express  ordinary 
problems  in  algebraic  terms;  he  can  intelligently  interpret  and 
compute  formulas;  and  he  can  use  geometric  principles  in  com- 
puting such  areas,  angles,  and  lines  as  ordinarily  arise  in  life. 

This  will  seem  a  very  small  extension  of  the  grammar-school 
work.  But  the  whole  purpose  of  the  mathematical  department 
is  to  train  a  pupil  to  do  the  few  things  that  he  will  need  to  do  in 
the  business  world  and  to  be  absolutely  sure  of  the  results  of  his 
work. 

Science  Department 

Since  our  boys  are  preparing  definitely  to  enter  the  business 
of  buying  and  selling  rather  than  that  of  producing,  they  need 
chemistry  rather  than  physics.  In  order  to  allow  for  the  course 
in  chemistry,  program  requirements  forced  us  to  place  the  phys- 
ics in  the  first  year ;  so  it  is  very  elementary. 

All  first-year  pupils  are  required  to  take  fifteen  weeks,  with 
five  recitations  per  week,  and  without  laboratory  work,  in  phys- 
ical geography.  The  objects  are  to  teach  the  boy  how  to  get  a 
home  lesson,  to  give  him  elemental  facts  in  the  subject,  and  to 
show  the  relation  of  the  subject  to  the  production  of  commer- 
cial commodities.  Then  follow  twenty  weeks  of  conventional 
physics,  with  four  recitations  or  demonstrations  and  one  labora- 
tory hour  per  week.  The  subject-matter  is  diluted  to  fit  the 
pupil's  time  and  ability.  There  is  individual  laboratory  work 
with  suitable  notebook  record.  This  subject  so  treated  is  so 
fundamental  that  little  attempt  is  made  to  make  it  commercial. 
It  cannot  fail  to  be  vocational  in  its  content. 

All  third-year  pupils  are  required  to  take  a  full  year  of  chem- 
istry, with  three  recitations  and  a  double  laboratory  hour  per 
week.  We  do  not  believe  in  giving  commercial  tests  before  the 
pupil  is  grounded  in  elementary  theory;  so  the  first  object  of 
this  course  is  to  drill  in  fundamentals.  After  six  months  of 
such  work,  the  pupil  has  lectures  and  reference-book  work  on 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  231 

important  local  industries,  with  commercial  tests  in  the  labora- 
tory. The  topics  are  paper,  glass,  fermentation,  sugar,  milk, 
petroleum  products,  fats  and  soap,  dyeing,  etc.  Such  laboratory 
exercises  are  given  as  the  Halphen  test  for  cotton  seed,  the  test 
for  formadlehyde  in  milk,  the  Babcock  milk-fat  test,  making 
soap,  dyeing,  the  Fehling  quantitative  test  for  invert  sugar,  etc. 
Typical  industries  are  visited.  The  object  of  the  work  is  to 
give  the  pupil  a  slight  idea  of  the  scope  of  such  work,  so  that  if 
he  wishes  to  elect  fourth-year  chemistry  he  may  know  what  to 
expect.  We  devote  the  last  two  months  to  descriptive  study  of 
the  metals,  and  the  laboratory  work  is  an  elemental  outline  of 
qualitative  analysis  designed  to  give  some  little  skill  in  methods, 
some  knowledge  of  the  relations  of  the  metals,  and  to  drill  the 
fundamentals  of  chemistry. 

Through  the  entire  school  the  work  becomes  increasingly 
vocational  as  the  pupil  advances.  Accordingly,  fourth-year 
chemistry  is  elective  for  pupils  who  have  shown  interest  or 
power  in  that  line.  The  purpose  is  not  to  turn  out  expert  or 
half-trained  chemists,  but  to  give  the  kind  of  training  a  prospec- 
tive buyer  and  seller  of  merchandise  will  find  valuable.  Consid- 
eration is  given  to  the  buying  of  supplies  on  the  basis  of  a  sci- 
entific test;  in  other  words,  scientific  efficiency  in  buying  is  our 
theme.  Our  object  is  to  be  able  to  read  understandingly  a  set 
of  specifications  involving  contract  for  the  purchase  of  supplies, 
to  understand  the  purpose  of  the  several  tests  there  indicated, 
to  know  what  tests  are  available  for  the  buyer  himself,  and  to 
know  when  the  buyer  ought  to  pay  an  expert  chemist  for  an 
analysis.  We  take  up  from  this  point  of  view  those  commodities 
which  Boston  merchants  handle :  fuel,  lime,  cement,  petroleum 
products,  animal  and  vegetable  oils,  essential  oils,  packing-house 
products,  soap,  fermentation,  starch,  sugar,  paper,  leather,  tex- 
tiles, dyeing,  paints,  varnishes,  rubber,  general  food  products, 
dairy  products,  canned  goods,  preserves,  coffee,  cocoa,  tea,  spices, 
flavoring  extracts,  etc.  We  have  three  hours  of  lecture,  dis- 
cussion, and  reference-book  work,  lantern  slides,  and  pictures  per 
week,  and  a  double  laboratory  period.  Where  we  can  find  sensi- 
ble tests  within  the  scope  of  the  pupils'  time  and  ability,  we  make 
them.  Where  the  tests  are  too  difficult,  we  may  discuss  their 
purposes  and  theory,  or  we  may  ignore  them.  We  have  on 
hand  twice  as  much  material  as  we  can  handle  in  any  one  year. 
The  interest  of  the  pupils  is  all  that  could  be  desired.  We  try 


232  SELECTED     ARTICLES 

to  be  sane  and  sensible  in  what  we  undertake,  and  we  feel  that 
we  are  getting  results  which  are  well  worth  while.  In  the  end, 
if  we  can  turn  out  boys  who  are  good  raw  material  for  a  busi- 
ness house  to  break  in,  we  feel  that  we  have  accomplished  all 
that  is  possible. 

We  do  not  prepare  boys  for  college  and  we  pay  no  attention 
to  college-entrance  requirements;  if  we  discover  boys  in  the 
early  years  who  intend  to  go  to  college,  we  advise  them  to  go  to 
another  high  school.  But  our  course  is  broad  enough  and  cul- 
tural enough  so  that  if  one  of  our  boys  discovers  himself  in  his 
Senior  year  and  wishes  to  go  to  college,  he  is  able  to  pass  his 
entrance  examinations. 

English  Department 

The  course  in  English  is  determined  by  the  life  the  boys  have 
to  live.  It  aims,  not  to  fit  them  for  this  life,  but  to  live  it  with 
them  from  the  start.  Thus  practical  dealing  with  business  sub- 
jects runs  through  the  whole  four-year  course.  It  is  as  possible 
to  secure  correct,  clear,  and  forcible  English  in  dealing  with  the 
tangible  conditions  that  everyday  buying  and  selling  present,  as 
in  dealing  with  the  hazier  situations  that  the  college-imposed  clas- 
sical literature  too  often  suggests. 

During  the  first  two  years  special  stress  is  laid  upon  oral 
work.  Current  events,  reports  of  Boston's  industries,  explana- 
tions of  salesmanship  as  the  boys  themselves  have  practiced  it, 
and  criticisms  of  advertisements  in  papers,  window  displays, 
and  bill  boards  are  constantly  called  for.  Business  letters — gen- 
uine letters — are  read  to  the  boys  for  criticism,  and  then  re- 
written and  answered.  A  special  commercial  vocabulary  is 
definitely  developed.  The  natural  talkativeness  of  the  boys  is 
directed  toward  debates,  and  throughout  the  second  and  third 
year  inter-room  debates  are  held  weekly.  During  the  third  and 
fourth  years,  commercial  correspondence  is  studied  intensively, 
and  with  the  aid  of  textbooks  the  boys  are  drilled  in  all  the 
types  of  communication  that  they  are  likely  to  meet.  In  the 
fourth  year,  too,  there  is  a  course  in  advertising.  The  theory 
of  advertising — with  illustrations  at  every  point — is  treated  in  a 
course  of  lectures.  Practical  application  of  the  points  made  is 
secured  from  collections  of  good  and  bad  advertisements  which 
the  boys  make  and  which  form  the  basis  of  class  discussion. 
After  this  the  boys  themselves  write  advertisements  which  shall 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  233 

illustrate  the  points  considered  in  the  class.  In  all  this  work,  of 
course,  the  principles  of  effective  composition  are  taught,  but  the 
field  from  which  the  boys  draw  their  subjects  is  the  business 
world. 

It  is  poor  business  to  have  the  work  done  by  one  department 
broken  down  in  another ;  so  the  English  department  and  the 
others  co-operate  in  maintaining  a  definite  standard.  The 
written  papers  in  history,  modern  language,  commercial  geog- 
raphy, and  economics  are  taken  by  the  English  teachers  and 
corrected,  and  the  grade  of  English  work  thus  done  on  papers 
in  another  course  is  entered  as  part  of  the  English  record.  Co- 
operation is  carried  on  also  by  the  English  teachers  assigning 
topics  suggested  by  some  other  department  and  drilling  the  boys 
in  making  their  answers  not  only  correct,  but  effective. 

Literature  meanwhile  is  not  neglected,  but  here  the  emphasis 
is  different  from  that  of  the  college-preparatory  course.  To  en- 
joy a  good  book,  and  to  be  able  to  tell  why  he  enjoys  it,  is  what 
we  expect  of  a  boy.  Certain  books  are  required  for  careful  class 
reading,  among  them  several  on  the  college  list.  Besides  these, 
however,  every  boy  must  read  one  book  outside  of  school  each 
month  and  report  upon  it  in  class.  The  school  library  contains 
many  volumes  of  perhaps  second  grade,  as  literary  standards  go, 
but  of  vital  interest  to  the  boy  because  of  the  appeal  they  make 
to  the  creative  side  of  his  nature  through  their  connection  with 
the  scientific,  industrial,  and  commercial  world  about  him.  As 
far  as  can  be  judged,  this  emphasis  upon  interest  and  enjoyment 
in  teaching  literature  has  not  dulled  the  moral  or  imaginative 
sensibilities. 


Modern  Language  Department 

Each  pupil  in  the  High  School  of  Commerce  is  required  to 
take  one  modern  language  throughout  the  entire  course.  There 
are  five  recitations  per  week  during  the  four  years.  A  pupil  is 
allowed  to  take  only  the  one  language.  This  is  chosen  at  the 
beginning  of  the  course.  Experience  has  shown  that  with  so 
heavy  a  curriculum  as  that  of  the  High  School  of  Commerce, 
two  languages  are  not  thoroughly  learned.  Our  belief  is  that  a 
more  thorough  and  intensive  study  of  one  language  is  better  in 
every  respect  for  the  pupil,  and  will  be  of  greater  value  to  him 
in  after-life  than  superficial  training  in  two  or  even  more. 


234  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

The  training  in  the  modern  languages  has  two  sides,  the  gen- 
eral and  the  special.  The  course  is  laid  out  as  follows : 

The  first  year  is  given  to  elementary  grammar.  This  means 
in  any  language  the  inflection  of  nouns,  adjectives,  and  pro- 
nouns, the  conjugation  of  the  regular  verbs  and  the  more  com- 
mon irregular  ones,  and  the  application  of  the  simpler  rules  of 
syntax.  In  every  language  a  certain  amount  of  grammar  must 
be  learned  and  that  thoroughly  at  the  outset,  for  if  it  is  not 
learned  then  it  will  never  be  acquired  at  all.  The  grammar  is, 
however,  taught  somewhat  informally  in  connection  with  the 
reading.  A  large  amount  of  easy  narrative  is  read.  This  serves 
as  a  basis  for  exercises  in  dictation,  conversation,  and  composi- 
tion. The  main  purpose  of  the  work  of  the  first  year  is  to 
acquire  the  barest  essentials  of  the  grammar,  to  get  a  correct 
pronunciation,  to  acquire  a  good  vocabulary  of  simple,  common 
words  and  to  attain  ease  and  facility  in  their  use. 

During  the  second  year  this  work  is  continued ;  the  grammar 
is  studied  intensively.  This  is  the  grammar  year.  The  reading 
consists  of  easy  narrative.  There  is  considerable  reading  at 
sight;  the  foreign  language  is  used  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
the  classroom.  There  is  work  in  composition  throughout  the 
year. 

The  third  year  is  primarily  a  reading-year.  The  greater  part 
of  the  reading  material  consists  of  fiction  and  modern  drama. 
Through  the  texts  read  and  through  the  composition  work,  an 
attempt  is  made  to  give  the  pupils  some  definite,  reliable  infor- 
mation about  the  country  where  the  language  studied  is  spoken ; 
the  course  further  aims  to  give  them  a  practical  working  vocabu- 
lary of  travel,  or  ordinary  business  transactions,  and  of  every- 
day life.  There  is  constant  practice  in  hearing  and  in  speaking 
the  foreign  language ;  and  a  large  amount  of  composition  work 
is  done,  including  some  general  practice  in  letter-writing. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  year,  a  boy  should  know  his  grammar 
thoroughly,  be  able  to  read  average  fiction,  understand  a  good 
deal  of  spoken  language,  and  be  able  to  express  his  own  wants, 
if  not  fluently,  at  least  intelligently.  The  language  training  is 
such,  that  if  he  needs  to  leave  school  at  this  time  he  can  go  on 
and  acquire  and  assimilate  a  large  amount  of  special  work  un- 
aided. 

The  fourth  year  sums  up  and  applies  in  concrete  form  what 
the  pupil  has  learned  in  previous  years.  The  work  consists  of  a 
Study  of  the  language  as  used  in  commercial  correspondence, 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  235 

advertisements,  trade  circulars,  market  reports,  and  newspapers. 
If  time  allows,  a  good  play  is  read  also.  There  is  constant  drill 
in  conversation.  The  course  in  Spanish  includes  special  drill  in 
the  vocabulary  and  forms  of  Spanish  bookkeeping.  At  the  end 
of  the  fourth  year,  the  pupil  should  be  able  to  read  a  foreign 
newspaper  or  average  book  with  considerable  ease,  to  under- 
stand well  the  spoken  language,  to  speak  with  considerable  flu- 
ency, and  to  write  an  ordinary  business  letter  with  reasonable 
accuracy  and  speed.  He  should  know  thoroughly  the  vocabulary 
of  ordinary  life,  the  ordinary  business  vocabulary,  and  have  a 
broad  and  sound  foundation  upon  which  to  build. 

The  nature  of  our  course  prevents  us  from  paying  much  at- 
tention to  the  history  of  the  foreign  literatures.  Some  attention 
is  paid,  however,  to  the  life  and  works  of  the  principal  writers 
and  allusions  to  political  or  industrial  history  are  carefully  ex- 
plained. In  this  way  the  work  in  modern  languages  is  able,  to 
some  extent,  to  supplement  the  work  of  the  other  departments. 

The  results  attained  in  teaching  American  pupils  to  speak 
foreign  languages  are  not  satisfactory.  The  chief  reasons  alleged 
are:  first,  the  large  size  of  our  classes;  second,  the  greater  age 
of  our  pupils  when  beginning  a  foreign  language.  Neither  of 
these  reasons  is  valid.  The  main  trouble  is  that  for  us  the  ability 
to  speak  a  foreign  language  has  no  immediate  or  direct  com- 
mercial or  industrial  value.  Incentive  is  lacking.  A  boy  puts  his 
time  upon  those  subjects  which  he  knows  will  be  of  use  to 
him.  The  prospect  of  making  a  living  out  of  Spanish  or  Ger- 
man is  too  remote  to  appeal  to  a  boy,  despite  the  active  and 
vigorous  propaganda  exerted  in  behalf  of  the  former.  There- 
fore, in  our  work  we  must  be  satisfied  to  make  the  modern- 
language  work  a  means  of  careful  discipline,  a  means  of  impart- 
ing valuable  information,  both  special  and  cultural,  about  our 
neighbors,  to  awaken  and  stimulate  in  our  pupils  a  healthy  in- 
terest in,  and  respect  for,  our  neighbors  and  competitors,  and 
to  give  the  learner  the  basis  upon  which  to  build  an  accurate 
speaking  knowledge  of  the  foreign  languages,  if  at  any  time  the 
need  arise. 

Department  of  Economics  and  History. 

The  purpose  of  this  department  is  to  give  the  young  men 
who  are  going  out  from  the  school  such  a  knowledge  of  present 
economic  conditions  that  they  will  be  enabled  to  handle  better 


236  SELECTED  ARTICLES 

the  big  problems  of  modern  business.  In  addition  to  this  we  try 
to  stimulate  an  interest  in  history  which  will  lead  the  pupil  to 
do  outside  reading  for  himself  and  take  an  intelligent  interest 
in  all  questions  which  should  appeal  to  good  citizens. 

These  purposes  we  are  accomplishing  in  the  following  ways : 

1.  Our    course   in    general   history    (mainly   mediaeval    and 
modern),  given  during  the  first  two-fifths  of  the  second  year, 
serves  as  the  groundwork  of  our  later  study  of  industrial,  eco- 
nomic, and  commercial  history. 

2.  The  course  in  commercial  geography,  which  covers  the 
last  three-fifths  of  the  second  year,  gives  an  understanding  of 
the  products,  resources,  and  commercial  possibilities  of  various 
countries,  laying  special  emphasis  on  the  United  States. 

3.  During  the  entire  third  year  every  pupil  studies  the  his- 
tory of  commerce.    In  this  course  the  development  of  commerce 
is  followed  from  earliest  times,  and  special  efforts  are  made  to 
show   how    our    commercial    institutions    have    developed    from 
those  of  mediaeval  times.     Special  emphasis  is  laid  on  the  de- 
velopment of  means  of  communication  and  transportation,  deal- 
ing through  exchanges,  and  the  use  of  credit  in  modern  business. 

4.  The  first  half  of  the  Senior  year  is  devoted  to  a  study  of 
economic  theory.    Our  aim  is  to  present  this  subject  in  the  most 
simple  and  direct  way  with  constant  references  to  concrete  illus- 
trations within  the  range  of  the  pupils'  experience.     During  the 
second  half  of  the  year,  the  economic  and  industrial  history  of 
the  United  States  is  studied  as  furnishing  the  best  illustration  of 
the  various  stages  of  economic  development.    At  the  same  time, 
it  gives   the  pupils   much  useful   information   about  their  own 
country. 

5.  Courses    in   civil   government   and   commercial    law   also 
come  under  the  Department  of  Economics.    The  aim  in  the  first 
is  to  give  each  pupil  a  knowledge  of  local,  state,  and  national 
government  which  will  enable  him  to  fulfil  his  duties  as  a  citizen 
intelligently.      In  commercial  law  we   do  not  attempt  to  teach 
enough  to  enable  a  graduate  to  act  as  his  own  attorney.     We 
rather  try  to  show  the  boy  that  the  subject  is  so  intricate  and 
complex  that  the  intelligent  business  man  will  consult  a  lawyer 
when  any  legal  question  of  importance  arises.     We  also  aim  to 
give  enough  knowledge  of  the  law  to  enable  our  graduates  to 
have  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  legal  opinions  given  by  their 
attorneys. 

This  brief  outline  shows  in  a  meager  way  what  the  depart- 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  237 

ment  is  doing.  In  addition  to  this,  by  co-operation  with  other 
departments,  much  is  taught  which  adds  to  the  pupils'  fund  of 
economic  and  general  information.  Trips  to  business  houses  and 
manufacturing  plants  furnish  the  best  sort  of  illustrative  ma- 
terial for  economic  theory.  Practically  all  of  the  boys  in  the  two 
upper  classes  have  worked  in  business  houses  and  can  apply  the 
theory  learned  in  the  school  to  their  individual  experiences. 

We  do  not  feel  that  our  course  is  perfect  in  its  present  form, 
and  we  are  constantly  looking  for  ways  of  improving  it.  We  do 
feel  that  as  time  goes  on  we  shall  be  able  to  learn  to  what  extent 
the  work  of  the  department  is  helping  to  turn  out  the  kind  of 
business  men  needed  in  the  community,  and  that  thus  we  may 
model  our  work  more  directly  on  the  needs  of  the  business 
world  as  shown  in  the  experience  of  our  graduates. 

Salesmanship 

That  salesmanship  is  not  solely  an  art,  but  is  based  upon  sci- 
entific principles,  is  a  fact  that  is  now  almost  universally  recog- 
nized in  the  business  world.  It  is  the  knowledge  of  this  fact 
that  impels  such  stores  as  Wanamaker's  in  Philadelphia  and  the 
Jordan  Marsh  Co.  of  Boston  to  maintain  schools  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  their  employees  in  the  principles  of  salesmanship.  Ac- 
cepting the  contention  that,  to  a  great  extent,  salesmanship  may 
be  taught,  and  alive  to  the  fact  that  its  graduates,  for  the  greater 
part,  are  engaged  in  active  selling,  and  that  the  same  will  be 
true  of  its  future  graduates,  the  school  offers  a  course  in  sales- 
manship with  a  view  to  pointing  out  to  the  boys  its  basic  prin- 
ciples that  must  be  applied  when  their  business  life  begins. 

When  the  school  was  first  instituted,  and  until  the  present 
year,  the  course  consisted  of  lectures  by  a  local  business  man 
who  addressed  the  boys  upon  various  matters  of  business  life. 
This  year,  however,  a  new  plan  is  in  vogue.  One  of  the  faculty 
who  has  made  a  special  study  in  the  science  of  salesmanship,  and 
of  psychology  and  its  application  to  salesmanship,  and  who,  apart 
from  the  ideas  gained  from  the  literature  on  the  subject,  has 
obtained  much  information  from  conferences  with  business  men, 
has  taken  charge  of  the  course  and  is  conducting  it  in  both  the 
Senior  and  Junior  classes.  Probably  the  chief  advantage  derived 
from  the  new  plan  is  that  the  course  is  more  systematized  than 
formerly. 

Near  the  close  of  the  last  school  year,  the  third-year  class 


238  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

were  given  four  preliminary  lectures  on  salesmanship,  prepara- 
tory to  their  summer  work.  Three  of  these  talks  were  given  by 
the  teacher  in  charge,  while  one  that  dovetailed  into  the  teacher's 
plan  was  given  by  a  business  man.  The  elements  of  salesman- 
ship was  the  leading  topic  of  these  lectures.  Ideals  in  business 
were  impressed  upon  the  minds  of  the  boys  with  the  hope  that 
they  might  follow  the  road  to  success  during  their  summer  and 
later  work  and  avoid  the  pitfalls  that  so  often  make  failures  of 
the  novice  in  business.  Other  topics  discussed  in  these  lectures 
were:  salesmanship,  a  science  or  an  art;  need  of  instruction  in 
the  principles  of  business;  the  classes  of  livelihood-earners; 
divisions  of  business;  the  inside  salesman;  the  traveling  sales- 
man; steps  in  a  sale;  mail-order  business;  summer  employment. 
The  final  word  was  an  exhortation  to  the  boys  to  gauge  their 
summer  work  by  the  standards  set  before  them  in  these  prelim- 
inary lectures. 

In  the  meantime,  these  same  boys,  who  are  now  in  the  Senior 
class,  have  had  practical  experience  in  the  business  world  and 
will  have  more  in  connection  with  the  Christmas  employment 
scheme.  Then  they  will  be  ripe  for  the  six  final  lectures  in  sales- 
manship to  be  given  during  January  and  February  under  the 
direction  of  the  teacher  in  charge. 

Present  plans  call  for  a  division  of  these  final  lessons  into 
four  parts :  one  will  assume  the  form  of  an  "experience  meet- 
ing," at  which  about  a  dozen  boys  will  give  brief  talks  on  their 
experiences  during  their  summer  and  Christmas  work ;  another 
will  be  devoted  to  talks  by  a  half-dozen  graduates  of  two  years 
ago,  who  will  speak  upon  the  actual  conditions  in  busine.ss  that 
await  the  boys  upon  graduation ;  another  will  consist  of  a  sup- 
plementary lecture,  a  comparison  of  inside  and  traveling  sales- 
manship, to  be  given  by  an  experienced  salesman;  the  fourth 
part  will  comprise  three  talks  on  the  theory  of  salesmanship  by 
the  teacher  in  charge.  These  final  lessons  will  complete  the  ten 
in  the  theory  of  salesmanship  that  the  school  offers  its  students. 

Someone  may  conclude  that  the  course  in  salesmanship  is 
inadequate  for  a  school  with  business  aims.  Let  me  add  that,  in 
conjunction  with  these  lectures,  the  practical  work  afforded 
under  the  Christmas  and  summer  experience  plans  is,  in  reality, 
a  part  of  the  course  in  salesmanship,  since  it  enables  the  pupils 
to  apply  in  practice  the  theories  presented  in  the  lectures.  View- 
ing the  course  in  this  light,  one  can  hardly  call  it  inadequate. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  239 

Again,  demonstrations  of  salesmanship  that  are  in  such  favor  at 
present  are  not  provided  for  under  the  new  plan.  However,  the 
numerous  opportunities  that  the  boys  have  for  studying  actual 
sales  while  working  in  business  houses  more  than  offset  the  lack 
of  artificial  demonstrations  in  the  school. 

As  a  final  word,  let  me  say,  that,  at  present,  the  new  course 
is  in  an  experimental  stage.  Later  thought  on  the  subject  may 
warrant  a  change.  Moreover,  while  we  realize  that  we  cannot 
produce  expert  salesmen,  and  to  do  so  is  farthest  from  our  aim, 
we  feel  that,  by  revealing  to  the  boys  some  of  the  ideals  of  busi- 
ness life  that  lead  to  success  and  some  of  the  obstacles  that  spell 
failure,  we  are  not  sending  forth  our  graduates  into  a  strange 
and  utterly  unknown  world  to  perform  tasks  for  which  they  are 
totally  unprepared. 


AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

AGRICULTURE  ENLARGES  CONSCIOUS- 
NESS AND  HELPS  ADJUSTMENT1 

The  study  of  agriculture  enlarges  consciousness  and  enables 
one  to  see  much  in  what  now  appears  little.  Since  man  must  live 
by  the  sweat  of  his  brow  and  be  housed,  clothed  and  fed  from 
the  products  of  the  soil,  and  since  the  amount  of  land  is  fixed 
while  population  is  increasing,  it  needs  no  argument  to  prove 
that  the  study  of  agriculture  enables  one  to  become  better  ad- 
justed to  his  environment  and  gives  power  to  adjust  environ- 
ment to  self.  Education  for  culture  is  a  noble  ideal,  but  it  is  use- 
less to  talk  of  higher  culture  for  the  great  mass  of  humanity 
unitl  they  are  better  housed,  fed  and  clothed,  and  until  they  have 
surplus  leisure  and  are  taught  to  use  that  leisure  rationally. 

GENERAL  INSTRUCTION  IN 
AGRICULTURE3 

A  great  fault  with  the  district  schools  has  been  an  inclination 
to  think  that  anything  close  at  hand  is  too  mean  and  common  to 
be  considered  as  subject  matter  for  instruction.  The  thought  has 
usually  been  that  the  school  should  prepare  the  learner  for  some 
brilliant  calling  away  off  where  things  are  better  and  life  is 
easier  and  more  beautiful. 

As  a  result,  the  country  schools  have  been  educating  boys  and 
girls  away  from  the  farm.  The  new  method  is  that  of  educating 
them  to  appreciate  what  is  under  their  feet  and  all  around  them, 
through  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  processes  of  nature  and 
industry  as  carried  on  in  their  midst. 

1  From   "Agriculture  and  Life,"  by  A.    D.    Cronwell.   Copyright,    1915, 
by  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co. 

2  From  "Farm  Boys  and  Girls,"  by  W.  A.  McKeever.  Copyright,  1912, 
by  The  Macmillan  Company. 


242  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

One  of  the  direct  means  of  educating  the  boys  and  girls  for 
a  happy,  contented  life  on  the  farm  is  to  teach  them  while  young 
the  rudiments  of  agriculture.  This  method  is  Actually  being  put 
into  practice  in  thousands  of  the  rural  schools.  The  state  of 
Kansas  recently  enacted  a  law  requiring  all  candidates  for 
teachers'  certificates  to  pass  a  test  in  the  elements  of  agriculture 
and  also  requiring  that  the  rudiments  of  this  subject  be  taught 
in  every  district  school.  Other  states  have  similar  laws.  As  a 
result  of  this  and  like  provisions,  there  is  now  a  tremendous 
awakening  in  the  direction  named.  The  boys  and  girls  in  the 
country  schools  are  finding  new  meaning  and  a  new  interest  in 
the  fields  and  farms  upon  which  they  are  growing  up. 

It  is  a  comparatively  simple  matter,  that  of  teaching  the  young 
how  the  plant  germinates  and  grows,  how  the  seed  is  produced, 
and  how  farm  crops  are  cared  for  and  harvested.  Likewise  it  is 
easy  to  describe  the  elements  of  the  various  types  of  the  soil  and 
to  show  how  these  elements  contribute  to  the  life  and  growth  of 
the  plant.  The  question  of  moisture  in  its  relation  to  the  plant 
life,  of  insects  harmful  and  helpful  to  growing  crops  and  ani- 
mals, of  the  bird  life  as  related  to  the  economic  aspects  to  farm- 
ing— all  such  matters  can  be  easily  taught  to  children  by  the 
young  woman  school  teacher.  It  is  only  necessary  for  the  latter 
to  take  an  elementary  course  of  instruction  herself,  to  read  a 
number  of  collateral  texts,  and  to  get  into  the  spirit  of  the 
undertaking.  In  a  similar  manner,  instruction  in  regard  to  farm 
animals  may  be  given,  the  emphasis  being  placed  upon  the  con- 
sideration of  the  types  of  live  stock  actually  raised  and  marketed 
in  the  home  neighborhood. 

It  must  be  emphasised  that  these  matters  relating  to  elemen- 
tary agriculture  and  animal  husbandry  can  be  made  just  as  in- 
teresting and  quite  as  cultural  as  any  of  the  subjects  in  the  gen- 
eral curriculum  of  the  schools.  Wherefore,  the  rural  dweller 
who  catches  the  spirit  of  such  instruction  should  lead  out  in  the 
securing  of  public  measures  and  public  improvements  looking 
toward  an  early  embodiment  of  these  new  subjects  within  the 
prescribed  course  of  study. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  243 


AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION1 

The  principal  purpose  of  agricultural  education  is  to  teach 
people  to  think  straight  on  all  matters  pertaining  to  agricultural 
production  and  rural  life,  and  this  applies  to  the  city  people  as 
well  as  to  the  country  people. 

We  fall  into  an  error  when  we  assume  that  we  are  the  first 
to  have  to  meet  the  problem  of  the  high  cost  of  living.  The 
problem  is  as  old  as  civilization  and  has  intruded  itself  as  a  seri- 
ous factor  into  every  civilization  that  has  preceded  ours.  Plenty 
of  food  for  everyone  at  a  low  cost  is  the  newest  thing  under  the 
sun  and  it  also  has  been  among  the  most  transitory  of  things. 

We  have  dealt  with  the  problem  of  too  few  people  on  the 
farm  and  its  results,  high  cost  of  living,  as  tho  it  were  a  matter 
in  which  the  farmer  alone  is  concerned.  In  truth,  he  is  the  only 
person  in  all  the  country  who  does  not  suffer  from  this  cause. 
A  situation  in  which  there  are  too  few  producers  cannot  help 
being  highly  satisfactory  to  those  who  are  engaged  in  produc- 
tion, just  as  a  situation  in  which  there  were  too  few  grocers 
would  be  entirely  satisfactory  to  those  engaged  in  the  grocery 
business.  Such  a  situation  would  be  unsatisfactory  to  the  user 
of  groceries,  just  as  the  present  situation  is  unsatisfactory  to  the 
consumers  of  agricultural  products,  the  people  of  the  city.  It 
is  therefore  the  man  who  buys  the  products  of  the  farm  who  is 
primarily  and  almost  solely  interested  in  having  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  people  on  the  land.  He  is  quite  as  much  interested  also  in 
the  kind  of  people  who  till  the  soil  as  he  is  in  the  number  of 
such  people. 

What  City  People  Should  Be  Taught  about  Agriculture. 

It  is  almost  as  important  that  we  teach  agriculture  in  the  city 
schools  as  that  we  make  it  a  part  of  the  course  of  study  for 
country  children.  City  children  should  not  be  required  to  study 
the  details  of  plant  and  animal  production,  but  they  should  be  so 
taught  that  they  will  have  an  interest  in,  and  a  general  under- 
standing of,  these  basic  industries.  City  children  should  be  made 

1  By  Henry  J.  Waters,  President,  Kansas  State  Agricultural  College. 
National  Education  Association.  Proceedings.  1915:193-9. 


244  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

to  realize  that  they  are  dependent  upon  those  who  till  the  soil, 
not  only  for  their  food  and  clothing,  but  also  for  the  materials 
which  form  the  basis  of  most  of  the  city's  industries.  Of  the  raw 
material  used  in  American  manufactures,  one-half  of  I  per  cent 
is  derived  from  the  sea;  5  per  cent  from  the  forests,  13  per  cent 
from  the  mines,  and  81  per  cent  from  the  farm.  The  children  of 
the  man  who  answers  the  call  of  the  factory  whistle  should  be 
taught  that  not  only  the  clothes  which  their  father  wears,  and 
the  food  contained  in  his  dinner  pail,  but  also  most  of  the  ma- 
terials which  provide  him  a  chance  to  work  and  afford  the  family 
a  living  come  from  the  farm. 

Those  engaged  in  transportation  should  understand  that  it  is 
the  soil-produced  material  which  affords  them  nine-tenths  of 
their  employment  Merchants  should  be  taught  that  nearly  all 
the  goods  they  buy  and  sell  came  originally  from  the  farm.  The 
children  of  the  banker  ought  to  know  that  a  large  part  of  the 
value  represented  by  every  dollar  which  reaches  the  bank  vault 
was  produced  in  the  country.  They  ought  also  to  know  that  in 
the  long  run  it  makes  as  much  difference  to  them  how  much  of 
each  dollar  remains  in  the  country  with  which  to  build  the  right 
sort  of  family  life  as  it  does  how  much  of  the  dollar  reaches  the 
city  with  which  to  support  a  city  civilization. 

The  city  children  ought  to  be  taught  that,  tho  the  farmer  has 
undertaken  the  most  important  task  of  any  class,  that  of  pro- 
viding the  world  with  its  food,  clothing  and  the  raw  material 
for  its  industries,  he  never  has  had,  and  probably  never  will  have, 
much  to  say  regarding  the  conditions  under  which  he  will  per- 
form that  task.  City  children  should  understand  that  the  way  in 
which  society  determines  the  conditions  surrounding  the  farmer 
will  determine  the  standing  and  progress  of  both  the  city  and 
the  country.  They  should  be  trained  to  appreciate  the  limitations 
of  farm  production  and  to  realize  that  conditions  which  they  im- 
pose that  are  not  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country  people  will 
not  in  the  end  be  for  their  own  best  interests.  They  should 
early  learn  that  no  civilization  has  withstood  the  effect  of  the 
decay  of  its  rural  people. 

Wastes  are  a  Tax  upon  the  Cost  of  Living. 

Wasteful  ways  of  doing  business  and  extravagant  ways  of  liv- 
ing are  a  tax  upon  the  cost  of  living  which  somebody  must  pay. 
Either  the  consumer  must  pay  more  for  what  he  eats — and  he 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  245 

already  groans  under  the  burdens  of  the  high  cost  of  living — or 
the  farmer  must  take  less  for  his  products  altho  he  already  is 
lowest-paid  man  in  the  world. 

The  American  farmer  is  a  business  man  and  not  a  mere  la- 
borer. He  has  invested  in  land,  equipment,  and  working  capital 
an  average  of  approximately  $8,000,  an  investment  such  as  fairly 
classes  him  with  the  business  man  of  the  town.  He  is  entitled, 
therefore,  to  an  income  comparable  with  that  of  the  average 
business  man — an  income  which  will  enable  him  to  support  his 
family  as  well  and  to  enable  him  to  pay  as  much  toward  the 
support  of  the  school,  the  church,  roads,  and  the  cultures  of  life 
as  do  the  proprietors  of  grocery  stores,  drug-shops,  meat  mar- 
kets, and  of  other  business  enterprises  requiring  no  larger  in- 
vestment and  no  greater  intelligence. 

If  society  cannot  pay  the  price  for  food  which  will  yield  to 
the  farmer  fair  income,  it  is  time  society  was  looking  into  its 
ways  of  living  and  of  doing  business  with  a  view  to  effecting 
such  economies  as  will  make  this  possible. 

High  Acre-yields  Go  With  Low  Man-yields. 

City  people  have  been  thinking  too  much  in  terms  of  acre- 
yields  and  too  little  in  terms  of  man-yields.  They  have  not  yet 
learned  that  as  the  acre-yield  has  gone  up — the  world  over  and 
in  all  ages — the  man-yield  has  gone  down.  For  illustration,  the 
yearly  farm  income  for  all  the  land  in  cultivation  in  Japan  is  $71 
an  acre,  in  the  United  States  it  is  $15,  and  in  Kansas  it  is  $13.50 
an  acre.  The  average  annual  income  of  the  farm  family  in  Japan 
is  $235,  in  the  United  States,  $1,000  and  in  Kansas,  $1.560.  To 
take  another  illustration,  the  average  acre-yield  of  wheat  in  Ger- 
many is  nearly  31  bushels,  in  France  it  is  more  than  29  bushels, 
and  in  the  United  States  it  is  145/2  bushels.  The  average  yearly 
income  of  the  farm  family  in  Germany  is  $580,  in  France  it  is 
$670,  and  in  the  United  States  it  is  $1,000. 

Intensive  farming,  therefore,  is  not  the  simple  and  easily  ap- 
plied remedy  for  all  our  present  ills.  Intensive  agriculture  is 
adapted  only  to  conditions  where  lands  are  high  and  labor  is 
cheap.  It  is  essentially  hand  farming.  It  uses  little  labor-saving 
machinery.  It  produces  comparatively  little  livestock  and  has  not 
afforded  an  income  sufficient  to  provide  many  conveniences  for 
the  farm  home. 

Intensive  farming  developed  to  a  moderate  degree  has  pro- 


246  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

duced  the  peasant  class  of  Europe,  "the  man  with  the  hoe."  In 
Saxony,  Belguim,  and  Brittany,  where  intensive  agriculture  is 
more  highly  developed  than  elsewhere  in  Europe,  the  farm 
woman  frequently  serves  as  a  draft  animal  and  is  hitched  along- 
side a  dog.  Carried  to  its  full  limit,  intensive  farming  has  pro- 
duced the  Chinese  and  Japanese  farmer,  the  type  that  can  out- 
labor  and  underlive  any  other  type  of  farmer  in  the  world. 

Extensive  agriculture  develops  the  highest  form  of  rural 
civilization  because  it  gives  an  income  above  the  actual  physical 
needs  of  the  family.  It  affords  the  means  for  procuring  the 
broader  cultures  of  life.  It  is  the  kind  of  agriculture  that  uses 
much  machinery  and  raises  much  live  stock,  and  these  in  them- 
selves develop  the  highest  type  of  husbandman. 

So  long,  therefore,  as  society  is  not  made  to  suffer  undue 
hardships  on  account  of  the  high  cost  of  living,  a  reasonably 
extensive  system  of  agriculture  is  best  for  everybody.  So  long 
as  a  country  can  get  along  with  farms  of  reasonable  size,  it  is 
inadvisable  to  try  to  force  upon  that  country  an  intensive  type  of 
farming.  Indeed,  no  country  has  ever  adopted  this  type  of  farm- 
ing until  forced  to  do  so  by  the  demands  of  the  people  for  food 
and  for  an  opportunity  to  work. 

Society  demands  cheap  food,  and,  in  so  far  as  cheap  food 
may  be  provided  without  imposing  burdens  upon  future  genera- 
tions thru  the  waste  of  our  resources  and  without  imposing  undue 
burdens  upon  the  people  on  the  land,  the  demand  is  a  reasonable 
one.  Low  cost  of  living,  however  bought  without  permanent 
capital  of  soil,  mine,  and  forest,  is  temporary  and  wasteful.  Low 
cost  of  living,  purchased  with  the  manhood  and  womanhood  of 
the  rural  communities,  is  dearly  bought  and  destructive  of  our 
best  asset. 

A  sound  system  of  agricultural  education,  therefore,  stands 
squarely  for  high  man-yields  as  well  as  for  high  acre-yields  and 
seeks  to  prevent  a  rural  class  from  growing  up  in  America,  a 
class  that  is  different  from,  and  antagonistic  to,  the  city  class. 
Every  obstacle  to  the  free  intermingling  and  intermarrying  of 
the  country  and  town  people  must  be  removed.  It  must  not  be 
true  that  the  town  girl  would  rather  marry  a  drug  clerk  or  a 
city  omnibus  driver  than  marry  an  industrious  young  man  with 
a  farm.  Conditions  under  which  the  best  women  are  not  content 
to  live  will  not  long  attract  good  men. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  247 

Teaching  Thrift 

Agricultural  education  seeks  to  put  children  and  the  back 
yards  and  vacant  lots  to  work,  producing  food  to  assist  in  re- 
ducing the  cost  of  living,  and  to  teach  these  children  thrift,  a 
quality  so  lacking  in  the  American  people.  Agricultural  educa- 
tion teaches  the  boys  in  the  country  how  to  market  their  products 
and  should  teach  the  girls  of  both  the  city  and  country  how  to 
buy  for  the  family.  It  should  impress  upon  every  housewife  the 
relation  her  purchases  sustain  to  the  development  of  local  indus- 
tries and  should  seek  to  eliminate  much  of  the  waste  that  we 
commit  daily  when  we  eat  in  California  food  canned  in  New 
Jersey  and  when  they  eat  in  New  Jersey  food  canned  in  Cali- 
fornia. In  Kansas,  the  leading  broom-corn  state  of  the  Union, 
we  send  our  broom-corn  to  Michigan  to  have  handles  made. 

Apply  the  Laws  of  Nutrition  to  Raising  Children 

Agricultural  education  is  contributing  much  to  our  knowledge 
of  how  to  feed  children,  for,  after  all,  the  feeding  of  children 
so  that  they  may  reach  man's  estate  well  developed  and  strong 
follows  the  same  laws  of  nutrition  as  have  been  developed  for 
the  feeding  of  pigs,  colts,  and  calves,  only  we  have  worked  out 
the  scientific  feeding- of  pigs  and  colts  and  calves. 

Education  the  Basis  of  Rural  Sanitation 

The  country  must  be  made  a  more  healthful  place  in  which  to 
live.  It  is  of  comparatively  little  importance  whether  or  not  city 
people  understand  the  laws  of  sanitation  and  become  interested 
in  the  enforcement  of  these  laws,  for  organized  society  deter- 
mines the  sanitary  arrangement  of  the  home  and  the  workshop, 
and  forces  the  people  to  keep  their  premises  clean.  In  the  rural 
community,  everything  depends  upon  the  education  of  the  indi- 
vidual. There  is  no  rural  lawmaking  body  analogous  to  the  city 
council  or  city  commission.  There  is  no  inspecting  agency  cor- 
responding to  that  of  the,  city  health  officer,  city  dairy  commis- 
sioner, or  city  plumbing  inspector.  Thus  the  one-room  rural 
school,  poor  as  it  is,  has  burdens  laid  upon  it  that  are  larger 
than  are  the  burdens  laid  upon  the  city  school,  efficient  as  it  is. 

Important  as  is  the  education  of  the  city  children  in  respect 


248  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

to  their  attitude  toward  country  people  and  country  problems, 
this  training  is,  after  all,  of  secondary  importance  when  com- 
pared with  the  education  of  the  future  farmer  with  respect  to  the 
methods  he  shall  employ  and  with  respect  to  his  duties  and  obli- 
gations to  society.  He  must  be  made  to  realize  that  he  has  under- 
taken a  most  important  task  and  that  he  must  discharge  his  du- 
ties efficiently. 

What  the  Country  Children  Should  be  Taught 

Consequently,  country  children  will  need  to  be  taught  how  to 
produce  high  acre-yields  without  bringing  themselves  the  evils  of 
the  intensive  methods  of  other  countries  and  of  other  times. 
They  must  be  made  to  realize  that  their  right  to  own  land  is  an 
artificial  right  society  may  withdraw  if  they  till  the  soil  ineffi- 
ciently or  wastefully.  They  must  be  taught  how  deep  to  plow, 
when  to  sow,  and  when  to  reap,  and  how  to  produce  plants  and 
animals  that  may  better  serve  man's  uses. 

Where  Agriculture  Should  Be  Taught 

It  is  a  narrow  view  which  limits  the  scope  of  agricultural 
education  to  the  field  of  activity  covered  by  the  agricultural  col- 
leges of  the  country.  All  such  colleges  laboring  never  so  dili- 
gently and  efficiently  will  not  be  able  to  train  even  the  leaders 
required.  The  other  colleges  and  the  normal  schools  must  help. 
The  resources  of  the  high  schools  of  the  country  must  be  em- 
ployed. When  all  of  this  is  done,  the  problem  will  be  very  far 
from  being  solved,  because  only  a  few  of  those  who  are  to  farm 
ever  attend  a  high  school,  a  normal  school,  or  a  college. 

It  is  only  when  a  satisfactory  system  of  instruction  in  agri- 
culture is  introduced  into  the  school  which  the  future  farmers 
are  attending,  the  one-teacher  rural  school,  that  we  shall  be 
planting  generally  the  ideas  which  will  ripen  into  better  systems 
of  farming.  But  this  education  must  not  stop  with  the  farmer's 
children.  It  must  extend  to  the  farmer  himself  and  to  the  other 
members  of  his  family  and  must  continue  thruout  the  farmer's 
active  life.  The  supreme  test  of  a  system  of  agricultural  teaching 
is  made  when  we  apply  it  to  the  man  on  the  farm. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  249 

Early  Attempts  to  Teach  Agriculture  Were  Unsuccessful 

It  is  true  that  the  early  attempts  at  teaching  agriculture  were 
not  highly  successful,  altho  these  attempts  were  made  long  after 
education  in  other  lines  had  become  well  established.  The  fail- 
ure was  principally  due  to  the  fact  that  the  farmer  himself  knew 
more  about  farm  practice  than  did  the  teacher.  This  quickly  led 
to  the  establishment  of  agricultural  experiment  stations,  research 
institutions  in  which  the  application  of  science  to  agriculture 
was  studied,  where  the  reasons  for  the  most  successful  farm  prac- 
tices were  discovered,  and  where  new  and  improved  practices 
were  devised.  Thus  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  educa- 
tion, a  deliberate  attempt  was  made,  thru  a  well-co-ordinated  sys- 
tem of  scientific  research,  to  create  a  body  of  knowledge  in  rela- 
tion to  a  subject  which  it  was  deemed  important  to  teach,  but 
about  which  so  little  of  a  definite  nature  was  known  that  it  could 
not  be  taught  successfully. 

It  is  true  that  scientific  research  has  been  a  part  of  the  activ- 
ity of  most  institutions  of  higher  learning  since  the  close  of  the 
Napoleonic  era,  or  when  von  Humboldt,  as  minister  of  education 
of  Prussia,  sought  by  this  means  to  rebuild  Germany's  prostrated 
industries;  but  there  had  not  been  before  an  organized,  co- 
ordinated, and  compulsory  system  of  research  as  a  definite  part 
of  a  great  educational  program. 

The  success  of  the  investigations  in  agriculture,  especially  in 
America,  has  been  a  wonderful  stimulus  to  research  activity  in 
other  lines. 

Continuation  Teaching  in  Agriculture. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  the  first  result  of  this  suddenly 
stimulated  activity  in  research  was  the  accumulation  of  agricul- 
tural knowledge  more  rapidly  than  it  could  be  absorbed  by  the 
farmers  and  adopted  into  their  practices.  A  way  had  to  be  de- 
vised in  which  to  get  the  man  on  the  soil,  who  is  largely  muscle- 
minded  and  eye-minded,  to  adopt  these  new  methods.  As  a  re- 
sult, a  system  of  extension  teaching,  thru  farmer's  institutes, 
press  articles,  and  farm  demonstrations,  grew  up.  It  is  only 
within  very  recent  years — indeed,  since  the  passage  of  an  act  of 
Congress  by  which  the  federal  government  joined  with  the  states 
thru  the  agricultural  colleges — that  the  effort  to  carry  this  knowl- 
edge to  the  people  has  become  general  and  effective. 


250  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

Thus,  new  as  is  the  system  of  agricultural  instruction,  and 
halting  as  was  its  progress  at  the  outset,  it  has  already  marked 
two  distinct  and  important  departures  from  educational  traditions 
—one  in  the  organized  system  of  research  thru  which  a  body  of 
knowledge  pertaining  to  the  subject  was  created,  and  the  other  in 
an  organized  system  of  extension  or  continuation  teaching  thru 
which  parents  as  well  as  pupils  were  reached  with  this  new-found 
knowledge.  Both  of  these  departures  have  already  exerted  a 
large  influence  upon  general  educational  thought  and  practice. 

A  Stable  Rural  People 

Agricultural  education  seeks  to  establish  a  permanent  agri- 
culture, and  it  recognizes  that  the  first  essential  of  a  permanent 
agriculture  is  an  intelligent,  progressive,  and  contented  people. 
To  bring  about  such  a  condition  among  the  rural  people,  it  is 
necessary  that  these  people  have,  as  has  already  been  stated,  an 
income  equal  to  that  of  city  people  in  its  power  to  procure  the 
real  satisfactions  of  life.  Every  attempt  to  keep  up  the  country 
stock  and  to  resist  the  power  of  the  city  to  call  the  best  the 
country  produces  on  any  other  basis  than  this  is  unsound. 
Nearly  every  civilization  that  has  preceded  ours  has  tried  the 
experiment  and  has  failed. 

But  back  of  all  questions  relating  to  the  securing  of  an  in- 
come either  thru  greater  efficiency  as  a  laborer,  or  thru  securing 
a  fairer  share  of  what  that  labor  brings,  stands  the  equally  im- 
portant question  of  the  utilization  of  this  income  or  the  coining 
of  it  into  higher  standards  of  family  life. 

Rural  people  must  be  brought  to  realize  that  the  country  is 
not  merely  a  place  in  which  to  work  while  accumulating  the 
means  with  which  to  live  in  town.  They  must  be  shown  how  to 
expend  the  farm  income  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  as  satisfactory 
a  life  in  the  country  as  that  which  the  town  affords.  The  occu- 
pation of  farming  and  life  in  the  country  need  to  be  idealized, 
for  it  is  what  a  man  thinks  of  himself  and  his  work  which 
counts  for  most.  A  people  never  rises  above  its  ideals. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  251 

AGRICULTURAL  HIGH  SCHOOLS 
IN  ONTARIO1 

At  present  there  are  in  the  province  of  Ontario  10  high 
schools,  6  collegiate  institutes  and  5  continuation  schools  con- 
ducting classes  in  agriculture  and  the  number  is  rapidly  increas- 
ing. These  schools  are  located  in  different  parts  of  the  province 
and  represent  19  different  counties.  The  attendance  upon  the 
classes  is  optional  at  present  and  the  introduction  of  the  courses 
into  the  schools  is  also  optional,  consequently  the  establishment 
of  agriculture  as  a  part  of  the  high  school  course  will  proceed 
only  so  fast  as  public  opinion  will  permit.  The  number  of  stu- 
dents now  receiving  agricultural  instruction  in  the  high  schools 
is  about  800. 

At  the  end  of  the  second  year  of  the  course  there  is  a  de- 
partmental examination  which  may  be  counted  as  a  bonus  sub- 
ject. In  1916  about  190  students  took  this  examination.  This 
work  includes  experimental  laboratory  work,  relating  to  the 
fundamental  principles  of  agriculture,  and  is  made  as  practical 
as  possible. 

A  course  in  the  middle  school  is  also  provided  and  is  arranged 
for  two  years,  but  where  conditions  are  favourable  and  students 
are  able  to  carry  the  work,  it  is  possible  to  cover  it  in  one  year. 
There  is,  therefore,  practically  a  four-year  course  in  agriculture 
arranged  for  the  high  schools,,  and  the  equipment  is  paid  for  by 
special  grants  distributed  by  the  Educational  Department  when 
the  requirements  are  fulfilled. 

A  further  provision  is  made  for  agricultural  education  by  the 
establishment  of  a  "department"  in  the  high  school  under  the 
management  of  an  Advisory  Council  composed  of  men  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits.  Such  schools  as  provided  the  accommo- 
dation to  carry  on  the  department,  are  intended  to  be  the  fore- 
runners of  regular  agricultural  high  schools.  Quoting  from  the 
regulations  we  have  this  statement :  "When  the  public  interests 
necessitate  agricultural  high  schools  they  will  be  duly  established 
and  liberally  aided  by  the  government." 

At  present  one  high  school  has  organized  a  department  and 

1  By  J.  B.  Dandeno.  Agricultural  Gazette  of  Canada.  3:1002-3.  November, 

IQl6. 


252  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

two  others  are  making  arrangements  to  do  so.  It  should  be  said 
here  that  liberal  financial  encouragement  is  given  by  the  Educa- 
tion Department  towards  establishing  and  maintaining  not  only 
a  department  in  agriculture  but  also,  on  a  similar  basis,  a  de- 
partment in  household  science. 

Minnesota  has  now  175  agricultural  high  schools  and  no 
county  agricultural  schools.  Wisconsin  had  several  county  agri- 
cultural schools,  but  has  now  only  one.  In  Michigan  the  county 
agricultural  schools  have  not  been  a  success  and  there  is  now 
only  one  left.  These  three  states  are  pushing  as  fast  as  possible 
the  agricultural  high  school,  which  is  nothing  more  than  a  high 
school  giving  a  good  course  in  agriculture.  We  have  now  in 
Ontario  21  such  schools  and  this  number  would  be  increased 
enormously  if  agriculture  were  recognized  as  an  elective  subject 
for  matriculation.  In  the  three  states  mentioned  agriculture  has 
a  standing  similar  to  that  of  other  studies  and  may  be  offered 
for  matriculation. 

The  influence  of  agricultural  classes  is  already  being  felt, 
for,  in  several  instances,  boys  passing  the  entrance  are  attracted 
to  the  high  school  for  a  year  or  two,  knowing  that  they  will  re- 
ceive some  instruction  on  the  principles  of  agriculture.  In 
schools  where  such  classes  are  not  yet  introduced,  boys  similarly 
situated  stop  school  when  they  pass  the  entrance,  for  if  they  go 
back  to  the  farm  the  high  school  has  little  to  offer. 


FLATHEAD  HIGH  SCHOOL,  KALISPELL, 
MONTANA1 

There  is  a  county  high  school  at  Kalispell.  It  is  called  the 
Flathead  High,  after  the  aboriginal  campers  who  just  recently 
vacated  the  site.  However,  there  is  nothing  peculiar  about 
Kalispell's  having  a  county  high  school,  for  all  Montana  has 
these  places,  where  graduates  from  the  rural  schools  are  allowed 
the  high-school  education  which  for  two  centuries  "back  East" 
has  been  largely  the  special  privilege  of  town  boys  and  girls. 

Recently  I  heard  Mr.  Cummings  tell  a  farmers'  convention 
about  the  work  of  the  Flathead  school.  "A  school  should  meet 

*By  Florence  Clark.   Country  Gentleman.  81:467.  February  26,  1916. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  253 

the  needs  of  the  community  to  justify  its  existence"  is  Principal 
Cummings'  simple  statement  of  the  theory  he  has  put  into  prac- 
tice during  the  two  years  he  has  been  head  of  the  Flathead 
County  High  School. 

Something  for  Every  Student 

His  first  efforts  were  directed  toward  getting  every  boy  and 
girl  into  the  high  school.  This  he  did,  partly  by  systematic  ad- 
vertising in  the  papers ;  partly  by  riding  500  miles  on  his  bicycle 
in  a  personal  farmhouse-to-farmhouse  canvass;  partly  by  pro- 
viding a  high-school  curriculum  so  diversified  and  so  embracing 
that  no  student  could  help  finding  something  in  it  that  would 
attract  him  and  fit  him  for  usefulness  in  the  world. 

The  usual  college  preparatory  course  for  the  one-seventh  of 
the  students  who  will  go  to  college  was  retained.  Six  other 
courses  were  added  to  it  for  the  six-sevenths  who  will  not  go : 
Agriculture,  for  the  boy  who  will  stay  on  the  farm;  normal 
training,  for  the  girl  who  will  teach  the  rural  school;  manual 
training,  for  the  trades ;  domestic  science,  for  the  home ;  ac- 
counting, for  the  store;  and  stenography,  for  the  office. 

It  was  found  there  were  a  good  many  boys  who  had  gone 
through  the  rural  school  but  were  debarred  from  taking  regular 
high-school  work  because  they  were  needed  on  the  farm  in  the 
spring  and  fall.  For  these  boys  an  eighth  course  begins  in  No- 
vember and  closes  March  fifteenth;  it  includes  agriculture,  farm 
arithmetic,  manual  training  and  English. 

There  were  still  some  boys  and  girls  who  refused  to  come 
because  they  did  not  want  to  take  all  the  studies  in  any  course. 
As  a  last  resort  Mr.  Cummings  said  to  these :  "There  are  no 
short  cuts  to  education.  You  cannot  get  credit  on  the  school 
records  for  work  done  unless  it  comes  up  to  the  standard; 
neither  can  you  graduate  from  the  school  unless  you  finish  the 
required  work  as  laid  down  in  some  course.  But  if  there  is 
any  study  that  you  want  and  are  capable  of  carrying,  come  in 
and  get  it."  And  they  came. 

To  help  the  high-school  pupils  in  their  choice  of  a  life  work 
the  successful  men  and  women  in  the  various  occupations  are 
giving  vocational  talks  at  the  school.  A  vocational  conference 
for  girls,  a  county  athletic  meet  and  a  county  eighth-grade  spell- 


254  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

ing  contest  were  held.  A  thousand  people  attended  the  spelling 
contest. 

The  normal  training  course  as  planned  will  eventually  raise 
the  standard  of  rural  school  teaching  in  the  county.  In  the  in- 
terval the  Flathead  faculty  and  students  are  making  regular 
Friday  and  Saturday  night  trips  to  the  rural  schools  to  give  talks 
and  entertainments,  dividing  themselves  into  groups  for  this 
purpose.  Vocational  talks  are  to  be  added  as  soon  as  practicable. 
Many  of  the  rural  teachers  are  not  qualified  to  teach  agriculture. 
To  meet  their  need  the  high  school  has  opened  its  doors  Satur- 
days, and  classes  in  agriculture  especially  designed  for  them  are 
held.  Fifteen  of  the  teachers  are  attending. 

With  the  cooperation  of  the  city  library  circulating  libraries 
have  been  placed  in  the  rural  schools  and  the  books  are  sent  out 
to  the  homes  by  the  teachers.  In  the  farmers'  short  course  lec- 
tures on  reading  in  the  home  were  given  to  stimulate  interest  in 
the  use  of  these  books. 

One-third  more  students  are  enrolled  this  year  than  last;  25 
per  cent  of  last  year's  graduates  are  back  taking  special  work; 
65  per  cent  of  them,  Mr.  Cummings  says,  will  eventually  go  to 
higher  institutions  of  learning.  So  far  has  the  Flathead  County 
High  School  traveled  in  the  evolution  of  an  institution  that  shall 
be  a  clearing  house  for  the  needs  of  the  people. 


STUDENT  CREAMERY  AT  DULUTH 
CENTRAL  HIGH  SCHOOL1 

In  the  fall  of  1914  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  city  of 
Duluth,  Minnesota,  voted  an  appropriation  of  $150  for  the  pur- 
chase of  a  creamery  outfit  such  as  could  be  recommended  for  a 
farmer  with  ten  cows.  The  equipment,  all  hand  power  models, 
consists  of  cream  separator,  combined  churn  and  butterworker, 
butter  printer,  ice  box,  Babcock  tester,  acidity  test  outfit,  salt  test 
outfit,  moisture  test  scale,  butter  print  scale,  cream  scale,  cream 
cans,  and  minor  utensils. 

The  agricultural  department,  then  in  its  second  year  only, 
was  already  one  of  the  most  active  divisions  of  Central  High 

1  By  E.  P.  Gibson.  Hoard's  Dairyman.  51:698.  May  19,   1916. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  255 

School;  and  the  new  equipment  was  received  with  such  interest 
and  enthusiasm  that  in  the  1914-1915  school  year  the  embryo 
farmers  made  a  total  of  2,891  pounds  of  the  best  creamery  butter 
in  170  churnings. 

This  record  was  recognized  as  a  nucleus  around  which  to 
build  creamery  practice  thoroughly  systematized  and  realistic; 
and  the  outgrowth  this  year  was  a  students'  co-operative  cream- 
ery with  a  bank  account,  a  sinking  fund,  and  typical  "articles  of 
incorporation." 

The  Student  Creamery  Company  of  the  high  school  is  an 
organization  among  the  boys  of  the  agricultural  department, 
similar  on  a  small  scale  to  the  most  approved  type  of  farmers' 
co-operative  creameries,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  both  the 
manufacturing  and  the  business  experience  of  creamery  practice. 
The  student  members  produce  the  cream  and  milk  by  purchase, 
and  sell  to  their  creamery,  profits  from  which  they  share  in  pro- 
portion to  their  respective  patronage. 

The  idea  belongs  to  Duluth,  it  being  the  product  of  co-opera- 
tion between  the  high  school  instructor  and  the  Bridgeman-Rus- 
sell  Company,  local  wholesale  manufacturers  and  dealers  in 
dairy  products.  To  reward  industry  and  efficiency,  the  Bridge- 
man-Russell  Company  agreed  to  furnish  the  best  quality  of 
cream  at  such  price  concessions  as  to  enable  the  creamery  com- 
pany to  pay  student  buttermakers  common  wages  when  full 
churnings  are  made,  as  well  as  to  set  aside  a  sinking  fund  of 
two  cents  per  pound  for  the  upkeep  and  renewal  of  the  machin- 
ery that  belongs,  of  course,  permanently  to  the  school.  This 
makes  possible  a  representative  system  of  cost  accounting,  which 
places  profits  on  a  definite  basis  after  allowing  for  cost  of  ma- 
terials, labor,  upkeep  of  equipment,  etc. 

In  Duluth,  cream  rather  than  milk  must  be  bought  for  the 
bulk  of  the  churnings,  because  of  the  local  big  demand  and  high 
price  for  fresh  milk.  At  the  outset  it  is  admitted  that  in  the 
city  proper  the  milk  business  is  more  profitable  ordinarily  than 
the  butter  business;  and  in  skimming  fresh  milk  with  a  view  to 
ripening  and  churning  the  cream,  it  is  necessary  to  produce  high 
quality  products  and  by-products  and  to  market  all  these  sys- 
tematically if  the  receipts  from  buttermaklng  are  nearly  to  equal 
those  from  a  milk  and  fresh  cream  business.  The  lesson  of  the 
conservation  of  by-products  here  taught  is  a  valuable  one. 

The  following  is  the  plan  of  operation  for  each  whole  milk 


256  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

churning.  Two  students  sell  to  the  Student  Creamery  Company 
the  required  amount  of  fresh  pasteurized  milk,  which  they  have 
produced  by  purchase  through  the  D.  C.  H.  S.  Agricultural  Club 
as  agent.  The  agricultural  instructor,  who  acts  as  advisory 
manager  of  the  creamery,  assigns  these  two  boys  to  the  churning. 
The  milk  is  weighed  and  tested  to  determine  its  pounds  of 
butterfat.  Next  it  is  warmed  and  separated,  then  both  skimmilk 
and  cream  are  tested  for  butterfat.  The  skimmilk  and  cream  are 
promptly  cooled,  and,  for  the  time  being,  set  in  the  ice  box.  Pre- 
vious to  the  churning  the  cream  is  treated  with  a  pure  culture 
starter  and  ripened  over  night  to  the  correct  degree  of  acidity. 
The  combined  churn  and  butterworker  is  a  hand  power  model 
of  the  best  factory  type,  and  produces  the  choicest  of  creamery 
butter.  Then  follow  the  salt  test  and  the  moisture  test  applied 
to  the  butter,  and  the  butterfat  test  of  the  buttermilk.  Quality 
of  product  and  losses  of  butterfat  are  carefully  checked.  The 
butter  is  molded  into  pound  prints,  which  are  corrected  to  a  net 
weight  of  sixteen  ounces  on  an  inspected  and  sealed  butter  print 
scale.  The  butter  in  neatly  printed  cartons,  and  the  buttermilk, 
are  in  big  demand  when  the  supply  is  greater  than  the  home 
needs  of  the  student  members.  The  skimmilk  is  best  made  into 
cottage  cheese.  The  students  pay  retail  prices  into  the  company 
treasury  for  all  the  creamery  products  that  they  use  or  sell,  and 
each  two  are  responsible  for  the  sale  of  and  settlement  for  all 
the  products  of  their  churning.  They  are  employed  both  as 
buttermakers  and  as  "salesmen." 

The  Student  Creamery  Company  is  a  popular  organization 
with  membership  open  to  any  boy  in  Central  High  School.  It 
is  entirely  self-sustaining  and  has  an  ample  sinking  fund  to  re- 
pair and  replace  all  creamery  equipment  belonging  to  the  agri- 
cultural department.  Each  member  pays  a  deposit  of  two 
dollars,  the  total  of  which  "stock"  is  placed  in  a  local  bank  to 
guarantee  the  credit  of  the  organization.  Cash  received  for 
butter  and  all  other  products  is  also  banked  to  enable  the 
treasurer  to  pay  all  bills  promptly  by  check.  A  payroll  is  issued 
monthly,  and  there  are  monthly  reports  to  the  student  board  of 
directors.  At  the  end  of  each  school  year  the  balance  in  the 
sinking  fund  will  be  turned  over  to  the  agricultural  department, 
dividends  will  be  declared,  and  the  company  dissolved  and  in- 
dividual amounts  of  stock  refunded. 

The  venture  now  two  years  old  is  an  unquestioned  success, 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  257 

and  the  Students'  Co-operative  Creamery  Company  will  each 
year  be  organized  among  the  students  in  dairying  for  an  active 
period  of  some  two  months,  with  the  privilege  of  occasional 
churnings  throughout  the  year,  long  enough  to  give  each  member 
a  substantial  short  course  in  creamery  practice. 

The  creamery,  however,  is  but  one  of  several  strong  branches 
in  the  agricultural  department  of  Duluth  Central  High  School, 
and  is  by  no  means  allowed  to  monopolize  the  time  of  the  stu- 
dents in  agriculture. 


WHAT  THE  COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL 
HIGH  SCHOOL  IS  DOING  FOR 
MISSISSIPPI  BOYS  AND  GIRLS1 

Forty-one  county  agricultural  high  schools  have  been  estab- 
lished in  Mississippi  since  the  passage  in  1910  of  the  law  author- 
izing the  establishment  of  these  schools  and  providing  state  aid 
for  them.  The  total  enrollment  in  the  four  high  school  grades 
during  the  past  session  was  approximately  seven  thousand,  or  an 
average  of  about  one  hundred  and  seventy  per  school.  The  en- 
rollment of  boarding  pupils  during  the  year  just  closed  was 
approximately  thirty-five  hundred. 

They  represent  an  investment,  in  buildings  and  equipment  of 
about  $2,000,000,  and  an  annual  expenditure  for  support  of  about 
$350,000.  Quite  a  number  of  new  schools  are  being  organized 
this  year. 

The  law  authorized  any  county  in  the  state  to  establish  an 
agricultural  high  school,  and  maintain  same  by  a  tax  levy  up  to 
two-  mills.  State  aid  is  given  from  $1,500  to  $2,500  to  each 
school,  the  exact  amount  depending  upon  the  number  of  boarders 
enrolled.  The  schools  may  be  built  and  equipped  by  donations 
from  communities  bidding  for  the  location,  and  by  county  bond 
issues. 

The  county  agricultural  high  school  is  doing  distinctly  and 
effectively  four  things  for  Mississippi  boys  and  girls. 

First,  it  is  bringing  the  blessings  and  privileges  of  a  good 
high  school  education  within  the  reach  of  every  boy  and  girl, 

1  From  article  by  W.  H.  Smith,  State  Superintendent  of  Education. 
Progressive  Farmer.  31:816,  June  24,  1916. 


258  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

even  those  of  limited  means.  Prior  to  the  establishment  of  the 
agricultural  high  schools,  the  country  boys  and  girls  in  Missis- 
sippi had  very  limited  high  school  advantages.  At  the  county 
agricultural  high  schools  tuition  is  free  and  board  is  given  at 
exact  cost. 

In  the  second  place,  the  county  agricultural  high  school  is 
stimulating  the  agricultural  and  home  activities  of  Mississippi 
boys  and  girls.  The  school  has  been  of  immense  help  to  the 
government  agents  in  charge  of  the  boys'  and  girls'  clubs. 
Through  its  four  year  course  in  agriculture,  it  is  showing  the 
boys  the  real  importance  of  farming  and  teaching  them  the 
dignity  of  labor.  Through  its  four  year  course  in  home  science, 
it  is  teaching  the  girls  how  to  make  and  care  for  a  home,  and 
is  giving  the  instruction  in  all  that  pertains  to  home  life. 

Thirdly,  the  county  agricultural  high  school  is  training  Mis- 
sissippi boys  and  girls  for  service  as  teachers  in  the  rural  schools 
in  the  state.  Of  course,  few  of  the  schools  are  as  yet  properly 
equipped  to  do  effective  work  in  teacher  training  from  the  pro- 
fessional standpoint,  but  by  giving  a  full  four  year  high  school 
course  embracing  work  sufficient  to  cover  fourteen  Carnegie 
units,  the  county  agricultural  high  school  is  doing  a  great  work 
in  raising  the  standard  of  scholarship  of  the  rural  teachers.  It 
is  the  purpose  of  the  State  Department  of  Education  to  encour- 
age the  establishment  of  a  two  year  course  in  teacher  training 
in  the  county  agricultural  high  schools  as  rapidly  as  the  schools 
are  properly  equipped  for  such  work. 

Lastly,  the  county  agricultural  school  is  doing  a  splendid  work 
in  preparing  Mississippi  boys  and  girls  for  college.  A  graduate 
of  a  county  agricultural  high  school  is  admitted  without  ex- 
amination into  the  freshmen  class  of  any  college  in  the  state, 
including  the  state  university. 

Thus  the  county  agricultural  high  school  is  really  the  people's 
high  school,  and  thousands  of  Mississippi's  boys  and  girls  are 
eagerly  embracing  the  opportunities  offered  by  these  splendid 
institutions  of  learning. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  259 

THE  MASSACHUSETTS  HOME  PROJECT 
PLAN  OF  VOCATIONAL  AGRICUL- 
TURAL EDUCATION1 

You  are  doubtless  asking  yourself  whether  the  Massachusetts 
plan  of  vocational  agricultural  education  has  been  thoughtfully 
undertaken  and  whether  it  is  yielding  practical  results.  It  is  a 
big  subject.  I  have  over  four  hundred  and  fifty  slides  on  it. 
Those  which  I  am  going  to  show  you  are  a  very  short  set, 
selected  .almost  at  random ;  and  I  hope  you  will  believe  me  when 
I  say  that  they  are  not  in  any  sense  the  best  slides.  They  are 
simply  a  set  of  slides  selected  to  fit  the  time  assigned.  The  most 
I  can  hope  for  is  to  give  you  a  quick  flight  over  the  field — merely 
a  bird's-eye  view  of  our  plan  and  some  of  the  results. 

First,  I  invite  you  to  consider  a  little  symbolism  which  I  have 
been  using  for  the  past  four  or  five  years  in  the  effort  to  keep 
my  own  thinking  straight  on  this  subject  of  vocational  educa- 
tion. Remember,  we  are  considering  a  type  of  education  pre- 
sumably for  pupils  over  fourteen  years  of  age,  namely,  the 
secondary-school  age.  We  are  considering  a  type  of  secondary- 
school  training.  The  typical  high  school  of  ten  years  or  more 
ago  was  a  classical  high  school,  a  general  school  devoting  itself 
to  cultural  subjects.  This  we  might  symbolize  by  a  capital  C. 
We  have  looked  up  to  it,  and  justly  so.  Because  that  type  of 
school  met  the  needs  of  relatively  few,  there  were  those  who 
thought  we  ought  to  have  a  different  type  of  education  of 
secondary  grade  for  those  who  desired  direct  preparation  for 
life.  Because,  again,  there  were  so  many  cases  where  the  boys 
did  not  go  to  the  high  school  because  they  saw  in  the  high-school 
courses  nothing  that  would  be  of  use  to  them,  as  they  viewed 
it,  there  have  been  those  who  have  made  new  ventures  in  the 
field  of  secondary  education  in  what  has  been  called  "vocational 
training."  This  we  may  symbolize  by  a  capital  V. 

These  vocational  ventures  in  education  had  a  marked  effect 
on  the  high-school  courses.  You  will  scarcely  find  a  high  school 
today  which  does  not  show  considerable  differentiation  of 
courses.  The  determining  factor  in  this  differentiation  is  the 

*By  Rufus  Stimson.   School   Review.  23:474-8.   September,   1915. 


260  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

career  likely  to  be  followed  by  the  pupil  in  after-life  and  the  de- 
sire that  the  pupil  shall  receive  direct  preparation  for  that  career. 
Several  distinct  needs  are  clearly  recognized  by  almost  every  high 
school.  We  have  the  preparation  for  the  classical  college  over 
against  the  so-called  "Latin  scientific  course"  preparing  for  the 
higher  technical  institution.  There  are  the  courses  in  home- 
making  for  girls,  and  the  commercial  branches  for  boys  and  girls. 
In  fact,  a  fairer  symbol  to  represent  the  high  school  of  today 
would  be  some  such  modified  emblem  as  a  large  C  and  within  it 
a  small  v.  Much  attention  is  still  given  to  the  cultural  purposes 
of  the  high  school,  but  at  least  some  recognition  is  given  to  di- 
rect training  for  the  career  the  pupil  is  likely  to  follow. 

Similarly,  along  with  the  most  direct  preparation  for  the 
career  of  the  pupil  in  the  vocational  type  of  school  there  have 
come  decided  cultural  or  civic  values.  So  evident  is  this  that  I 
think  we  must  agree  that  the  vocational  school  of  today,  in 
Massachusetts  at  least,  must  fairly  be  represented  by  a  large  V 
with  a  small  c  within  it. 

In  view  of  this  development  there  have  been  those  who  have 
urged  the  desirability  of  a  balanced  type  of  training — not  so 
much  time  given  as  in  the  cultural  type  of  school  to  general 
studies,  not  so  much  attention  given  to  direct  preparation  for  a 
calling  as  in  the  vocational  type  of  school — a  type  of  school,  in 
short,  which  might  be  symbolized  by  a  rather  large  C  superim- 
posed upon  a  V  drawn  to  the  same  scale.  So  far  as  the  Board  of 
Education  is  concerned,  we  erase  from  consideration  this  middle 
type.  We  recognize  two  distinctive  types  of  training  in  the  sec- 
ondary field,  one  represented  by  the  large  C  and  small  v,  the 
other  represented  by  the  large  V  and  small  c.  It  is  with  the 
latter  that  we  are  to  be  concerned  at  this  hour. 

The  first  slides  will  show  you  a  series  of  pictures  illustrating 
somewhat  the  equipment  appropriate  to  the  distinctively  agricul- 
tural purposes  of  the  vocational  agricultural  school. 

The  Petersham  High  School  will  interest  you  because  Presi- 
dent Eliot  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  at  its  dedica- 
tion. This  school  has  a  beautiful  building,  erected  in  part  from 
funds  raised  by  taxation  and  in  part  from  funds  subscribed  by 
public-spirited  citizens.  A  small  greenhouse  was  provided.  The 
school  has  at  its  disposal  about  ten  acres  of  land,  on  part  of 
which  there  are  a  number  of  old  apple  trees  that  have  been  reno- 
vated by  the  pupils,  and  on  part  of  which  the  pupils  have  set  out 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  261 

a  young  orchard.  I  speak  of  this  greenhouse,  however,  for  the 
further  purpose  of  saying  that  this  is  the  only  vocational  school 
in  the  state  that  has  a  greenhouse,  and  because  I  wish  to  say  at 
this  point  that  we  have  instruction  in  a  number  of  places  where 
the  school  has  not  an  inch  of  land  or  a  head  of  live  stock  of  any 
description  at  the  school,  the  work  of  the  pupil  and  the  instruc- 
tor, in  class  exercises  and  individually,  being  carried  out  on 
farms — usually  the  home  farms  of  the  pupils  themselves.  A 
greenhouse  may  be  an  advantage,  but  it  is  not  required  for  state 
aid. 

Outwardly  the  headquarters  of  an  agricultural  school  or  de- 
partment may  appear  to  be  like  any  other  school  building.  Once 
you  are  inside  the  schoolroom,  however,  you  find  yourself  in  a 
different  kind  of  a  room  from  the  ordinary  schoolroom.  It  cor- 
responds more  to  the  library-laboratory  room  or  to  the  laboratory 
for  the  study  of  science.  We  cannot  use  ordinary  school  desks ; 
we  need  more  elbow  room;  we  have  to  study  pamphlet  material, 
data  which  are  available  only  in  bulletin  form.  We  have  to  keep 
accounts.  That  is,  our  pupils  must  have  room  to  spread  their 
material  out  before  them.  For  this  reason  small  tables  allowing 
for  each  pupil  a  surface  2^X3  feet  are  preferred. 

In  all  cases  you  will  find  a  selected  list  of  agricultural  pub- 
lications and  books  with  an  appropriate  filing  system  for  ready 
reference.  If  you  desired  to  see  a  good  example  near  Boston  of 
a  well-equipped  agricultural  room,  you  could  not  do  better  than 
to  visit  the  Concord  High  School  Agricultural  Department. 
There  you  would  find,  for  example,  an  apple-packing  table,  made 
by  the  boys  and  used  in  teaching  the  boys.  That  table  was  also 
used  at  a  short  course  in  apple-packing  given  to  twelve  adult 
farmers  who  applied  for  it  this  last  winter.  In  that  same  room 
you  would  find  an  admirable  collection  of  samples  of  corn,  heads 
of  grains  and  grasses,  samples  of  grain  and  grass  seeds  affording 
standards  for  ascertaining  the  relative  purity  of  seeds  available 
on  the  market,  samples  of  vegetable  seeds,  samples  of  chemicals 
used  as  fertilizers,  samples  of  spraying  materials,  samples  of 
feeds;  you  would  find  spraying  implements.  Though  a  school 
may  have  no  land  it  may  be  an  advantage  for  it  to  have  a  pretty 
complete  equipment  of  tools  which  may  be  lent  to  pupils  whose 
money  should  be  carefully  husbanded  for  buying  fertilizers  or 
for  other  needs  extending  throughout  the  season,  as  over  against 
the  pruning  shears,  which  may  be  used  but  a  few  hours  or  a  few 


262  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

days  in  a  year.  In  this  room,  you  would  find  poultry  appliances, 
including  incubators,  different  kinds  of  brooders,  feeding-hoppers, 
and  drinking  fountains.  Not  the  least  important,  you  would 
find  a  rack  for  farm  papers  and  an  excellent  selection  of  pub- 
lications of  this  kind  received  from  week  to  week  or  month  to 
month. 

Of  course,  "related  study"  materials  include  non-book  sorts, 
and  these  require  care  and  protection;  uniform  packages  or 
mounts  are  an  advantage  and  add  to  the  attractiveness  and  ap- 
parent order  of  the  agricultural  classroom.  Finally,  there  is  a 
well-kept  bulletin  board. 

Now  you  want  to  know  what  the  course  of  study  is.  That  is 
usually  determined  by  the  vocation  for  which  the  individual  pre- 
pares. I  am  now  going  to  deal  chiefly  with  the  home-project 
plan  of  teaching  agriculture.  The  home  projects  are  graded  with 
reference  to  the  relative  risks  involved,  the  younger  boys,  of 
fourteen  or  fifteen,  being  assigned  projects  which  involve  the 
least  risk,  those  in  the  later  'teens  or  in  the  twenties  being  as- 
signed the  projects  involving  the  heaviest  risks,  and  the  inter- 
mediate risks  being  distributed  through  the  intermediate  years 
between  those  ages.  For  instance,  boys  of  fourteen  or  so  study  the 
elementary  plan  projects,  such  as  kitchen  gardening  and  orna- 
mental planting.  Here  the  big  item  is  labor,  and  the  boys  them- 
selves furnish  that.  In  the  next  grade,  at  fifteen  or  over,  they 
get  animal  husbandry,  dealing  with  small  stock,  such  as  poultry, 
sheep  and  goats,  swine  and  bees.  In  the  third  year  they  get  ad- 
vanced plan  projects,  such  as  small  fruit-growing,  orcharding 
and  market  gardening,  growing  fruit  and  vegetables  for  sale.  In 
the  fourth  year  they  finish  with  advanced  projects  in  animal  hus- 
bandry, dairying,  and  general  farm  management  and  agriculture 
as  a  business.  In  addition  to  these  supervised  projects  for  any 
given  year  a  pupil  may  carry  out  certain  unsupervised  projects 
on  his  own  account,  and  he  usually  does.  For  instance,  he  car- 
ries on  kitchen  gardening,  which  is  a  first-year  project,  through- 
out the  course;  he  may  continue  poultry-keeping,  which  is  a  sec- 
ond-year project,  in  the  third  and  fourth  years;  and  he  may  con- 
tinue fruit-growing  and  market  gardening,  which  are  third-year 
projects,  through  the  fourth  year.  Once  the  boy  is  started  with 
the  easier  projects  in  the  first  year,  he  is  encouraged  and  helped 
with  them  throughout  the  four  years'  course,  and  all  through  the 
four  years  the  other  members  of  his  family  are  encouraged  to 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  263 

co-operate  with  him,  in  the  interest  of  producing  the  best  possible 
home  garden.  The  training  all  through  is  a  training  for  self- 
help. 

The  agricultural  instructors  are  on  duty  throughout  the  sum- 
mer, some  of  them  riding  weekly  circuits  for  forty,  sixty,  and 
even  ninety  miles  in  going  from  farm  to  farm  among  their  pupils. 
They  do  a  vast  amount  of  "county  agent"  or  "farm  bureau"  work 
among  the  adult  farmers  along  their  routes  and  hold  appoint- 
ments as  "collaborators"  of  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture,  have  the  franking  privilege,  and  work  in  the  closest 
co-operation  with  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  exten- 
sion service. 

The  efficiency  of  the  instructors  as  a  unified  body  is  promoted 
by  mid-winter  and  mid-summer  conferences  at  which  they  all 
meet  at  the  agricultural  college.  At  these  conferences  represen- 
tatives of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  and  the 
Bureau  of  Education  are  present,  which  tends  to  insure  team- 
work through  the  instructors  for  the  benefit  of  practical  farmers 
as  well  as  the  boys  in  the  agricultural  classes  in  every  locality. 

One  striking  feature  of  the  results  of  the  work  is  that  during 
1914  the  earnings  of  235  boys,  in  connection  with  good  work  at 
school,  amounted  to  over  $42,000,  all  but  about  $4,000  from  farm 
work.  Agriculture,  in  short,  is  the  big  interest  of  the  boys  who 
succeed  in  the  vocational  type  of  schooling. 


HOUSEHOLD  ARTS 

A  BAVARIAN  SCHOOL  OF 
HOUSEKEEPING1 

As  the  train  pulls  into  the  little  station  of  Miesbach,  Bavaria, 
one  of  the  interesting  sights  that  strikes  a  stranger  is  the  large 
red  brick  building  standing  on  a  high  slope  some  distance  away, 
and  surrounded  by  trees  and  hedges  which  give  it  the  appear- 
ance of  a  stately  baronial  estate.  It  is  that  of  the  famous  School 
of  Housekeeping,  which  graduates  yearly  some  fifty  pupils  or 
more.  The  inside  of  this  substantial-looking  house  shows  its 
proximity  to  Munich,  for  the  simple  ornamentation,  the  tasteful 
coloring,  and  the  comfortable  furniture  bespeak  its  nearness  to 
the  art  centre.  The  school  is  fitted  up  in  the  most  approved  and 
modern  fashion  as  to  heat,  light,  electricity,  etc. 

The  large  dining-room,  with  its  soft  tints  of  blue  and  white, 
its  numerous  small  tables,  covered  with  spotless  linen  and  the 
prettiest  of  silver  and  glass,  looks  more  like  the  dining-room  of 
a  well-kept  hotel  than  of  a  school. 

The  kitchens  are  spacious,  immaculate  in  their  white  tiling,  and 
fitted  up  with  every  possible  convenience.  The  preserve-rooms 
fairly  glisten  with  jars  of  strawberries,  pears,  plums,  grape-jam, 
marmalade,  asparagus,  beans,  peas,  tomatoes,  sweet  and  sour 
pickles,  etc.,  all  grown  and  put  up  by  the  pupils  of  the  school. 

There  is  a  practical  and  a  theoretical  course,  both  of  which 
are  obligatory.  The  practical  course  includes :  ( I )  cooking,  bak- 
ing, and  preserving;  (2)  washing  and  ironing;  (3)  housework, 
viz.,  bedmaking,  sweeping,  dusting,  knowledge  of  the  care  of 
hardwood  floors,  and  of  blanket  cleaning  and  summer  storing; 
(4)  flower,  vegetable,  and  fruit  growing;  (5)  poultry  and  bee- 
keeping; (6)  sewing,  dressmaking,  mending,  and  repairing.  The 
theoretical  course  comprises  an  advanced  course  in  botany,  chem- 
istry, physics,  political  economy,  and  household-bookkeeping. 

1  By  Mary  Parkinson.  Nation.  94:208-9.  February  29,  1912. 


266  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

The  science  of  nourishment  is  also  taught,  as  is  a  proper  knowl- 
edge of  the  different  cuts  of  meat,  their  average  cost  and  weight, 
etc.;  also  "first  aid  to  the  injured"  and  how  to  prescribe  for  the 
simpler  ailments  in  the  ordinary  household,  and  lastly  the  ele- 
mentary methods  of  caring  for  the  health  and  character  of  chil- 
dren. 

The  outdoor  life  presents  equally  wholesome  and  desirable 
surroundings.  Here  all  kinds  of  vegetables,  flowers,  and  fruits 
are  grown,  tended  in  the  most  scientific  fashion  by  the  pupils  of 
the  school.  Lettuce  and  cauliflower,  for  instance,  are  grown 
under  the  large  glass  bells  found  so  useful  in  the  sewage  market 
gardens  about  Paris,  and  the  poultry,  ducks,  and  geese  are  looked 
after  with  the  utmost  care  and  knowledge,  the  large  result  of 
which  is  a  commendable  supply  of  fresh  eggs  and  marketable 
birds  every  week. 

The  girls  take  turns  each  week  in  attending  to  the  various 
household  duties ;  a  certain  number  taking  charge  of  the  kitchen, 
planning  all  the  meals,  buying  and  paying  for  all  the  food,  and 
preparing  and  cooking  it  for  the  whole  school.  Another  set  of 
pupils  do  all  the  sweeping  and  dusting,  all  the  silver  and  brass 
polishing,  take  note  of  the  condition  of  the  floors,  and  see  that 
fresh  flowers  are  put  in  their  accustomed  places.  Others,  in  turn, 
attend  to  the  bees  and  poultry,  and  still  others  do  the  gardening. 
The  instruction  in  sewing,  mending,  dressmaking,  millinery,  and 
embroidery  is  rich  in  results,  and  teaches  method  and  thrift  in 
buying  clothes,  and  care  in  keeping  them  neat.  Every  detail  of 
the  daily  housekeeping  is  thought  out  to  a  nicety,  and  as  few 
maids  are  kept  in  the  school,  the  pupils  are  made  responsible  for 
the  proper  and  efficient  care  of  the  entire  household.  The  indoor 
life  prepares  pretty  solidly  for  the  subsequent  duties  of  house- 
wife and  mother.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  when  these  girls  have 
their  own  establishments  to  manage,  there  will  be  neither  culpable 
negligence  nor  ignorance. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  267 


EDUCATING  THE  CONSUMER1 

Now,  it  has  been  taken  for  granted  through  the  generations 
that,  since  we  all  do  consume  things  from  the  moment  we  are 
born  until  we  die,  consumption  must  be  instinctive,  no  more 
needing  to  be  taught  than  breathing.  We  see  dimly  that  modern 
housekeeping  has  let  go  of  production  and  concentrated  on  con- 
sumption ;  but  we  are,  most  of  us,  a  little  loth  to  admit  that  an 
education  in  housekeeping  must  be  almost  entirely  an  education 
in  consumption.  This  was  not  true  in  the  past,  it  may  not  be 
true  in  the  coming  ages,  but  in  the  present  and  the  immediate 
future  it  is  not  to  be  questioned ;  for,  as  Mrs.  Ellen  H.  Richards 
said,  home  economics  must  stand  for  the  ideal  home  life  of  to- 
day, "unhampered  by  the  traditions  of  the  past." 

Time  was  when  the  woman  who  kept  house  was  expected  to 
be  the  high  priestess  of  that  dire  goddess  How-to-Save-Money, 
but  her  metamorphosis  from  producer  to  consumer  has  shifted 
her  worship  to  the  new  deity  How-to-Spend.  From  an  all- 
round  producer  the  American  woman  has  become  the  greatest 
consumer  in  the  world.  Of  the  ten  billion  dollars  spent  annually 
in  the  United  States  for  home  maintenance,  food,  shelter,  and 
clothing,  fully  ninety  per  cent  is  spent  by  women.  Isn't  the  sci- 
ence of  consumption,  then,  worthy  of  special  emphasis  in  the 
training  for  home  efficiency? 

Not  many  schools  of  home  economics  have  grasped  the  fact 
that  they  should  be  per  se  trainers  of  consumers.  They  still 
tend  to  overemphasize  home  production ;  but  the  best  of  them  are 
very  generally  swinging  toward  the  first  and  most  important 
work  of  training  the  consumer — they  are  beginning  to  establish 
standards. 

"I  am  conscious  of  a  standard,"  writes  a  pupil  of  a  corre- 
spondence school  from  southern  Illinois.  "I  see  it  in  the  way  I 
manage  my  household,  in  my  expenditure,  my  work.  I  think  a 
change  in  my  standards  is  now  going  on  under  the  influence  of 
my  household  studies.  The  change  will,  I  suspect,  consist 
largely  in  a  shifting  of  emphasis  in  delivering  me  from  certain 
traditional  ideas." 

The  standards  of  this  lady  were  the  inherited  housekeeping 

*By  Martha  Bensley  Bruere.     Outlook.   102  129-34.     September  7,   1912. 


268  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

standards,  the  standards  which  our  ancestors  established  through 
the  long  ages  when  they  were  building  up  the  home  as  a  factory. 

Take  the  matter  of  food.  It  is  undoubtedly  for  the  advantage 
of  the  community  that  every  individual  stomach  should  have 
enough,  and  not  too  much,  inside  of  it.  The  old  standard  was 
to  distend  its  walls  by  mere  bulk;  the  new  school-set  standard 
is  to  furnish  it  some  two  thousand  to  three  thousand  food  units 
daily.  The  schools  have  worked  out  this  standard  of  consump- 
tion through  the  study  of  protein  and  starches  and  fats,  of  calo- 
ries and  muscle-builders  and  heat-producers,  till  they  have  found 
the  amount  and  kind  of  fuel  the  human  machine  needs  for  the 
various  kinds  of  work  it  must  do.  To  build  these  standards  is 
a  question  of  laboratories  and  applied  mathematics  not  within 
the  command  of  any  middle-class  home.  If  all  of  us  are  to  have 
the  benefit  of  them,  they  must  be  brought  to  us  by  the  universi- 
ties and  the  public  school. 

1  met  a  Pratt  Institute  graduate  on  the  Chicago  train  and  led 
her  gently  to  tell  me  how  much  of  her  domestic  science  she 
found  useful  in  her  housekeeping. 

"Well,"  she  confessed,  "when  the  baby  is  teething,  and  the 
cook  has  left,  and  there  is  company  to  dinner,  I  don't  think  much 
about  calories  or  a  balanced  ration,  but  somehow  I've  got  the 
theory  so  well  digested  that  I  put  the  right  things  together  with- 
out thinking  about  it." 

Her  food  standard  has  become  a  part  of  her  unconscious 
mental  furniture,  like  the  gauge  by  which  we  measure  the  length 
of  our  steps  and  the  focus  of  our  eyes. 

I  looked  over  some  papers  on  Housing  written  by  pupils  of 
the  American  School  of  Home  Economics.  Says  one  of  the 
students  who  lives  in  the  country :  "In  the  matter  of  house  sani- 
tation the  important  point  is  to  know  exactly  what  you  have  to 
deal  with.  There  is  no  use  in  taking  country  plumbing  for 
granted.  You  have  got  to  get  away  not  only  from  the  traditional 
ideas  of  the  man  who  built  the  house,  but  from  your  own  old 
ideas  as  well." 

These  old  ideas  from  which  she  is  being  freed  by  new  school- 
set  standards  taught  that  a  country  house  did  not  need  an  indoor 
bath-room,  that  the  parlor  was  a  jewel-casket  to  be  opened  only 
on  rare  occasions,  that  the  children  should  be  "bunched"  in  one 
room,  that  running  water  on  the  second  floor  was  a  luxury,  that 
sanitary  garbage  disposal  was  optional  with  the  individual. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  269 

Under  the  influence  of  her  new  standards  she  has  found  out 
where  every  one  of  the  pipes  in  her  house  is  located,  what  they 
are  for,  and  how  they  attend  to  their  job.  She  has  worked  out 
for  herself  a  system  of  out-of-house  drainage,  a  new  water 
system,  and  a  method  of  scientific  ventilation.  As  a  consumer 
of  housing  she  has  put  her  training  in  practice. 

Now,  the  basis  of  all  these  standards  must  be  the  ability  to 
recognize  quality  when  we  see  it.  This  is  so  important  and  so 
difficult  that  the  Government  tries  to  make  it  unnecessary.  To 
establish  standards — minimum  standards,  to  be  sure — has  come 
to  be  the  work  of  sanitary  inspectors,  tenement-house  inspectors, 
clean  milk  commissioners,  pure  food  and  drug  experts,  depart- 
ments of  street-cleaning,  and  a  hundred  more.  Theoretically, 
it  would  be  well  for  the  Government  to  establish  standards  for 
all  things  used  by  the  consumers,  and  so  save  the  schools  from  the 
onerous  duty  of  inculcating  them,  and  the  pupils  from  the  travail 
of  assimilation.  But  how  shall  a  Government  that  can  reason- 
ably say,  "Potatoes  below  a  certain  grade  shall  not  be  used  for 
human  food,"  regulate  the  number  of  up-to-date  potatoes  a  man 
shall  eat?  How  shall  a  Government  that  can,  and  does,  keep 
printed  matter  below  a  certain  grade  out  of  the  mails  say  to  the 
voracious  consumer  of  storiettes,  "Thus  far  and  no  farther?" 

Besides,  an  efficient  Government  without  efficient  citizens  is 
not  a  democracy.  We  don't  want  to  revert  to  a  benevolent 
despotism,  or  even  to  an  apron-string  bureaucracy.  The  setting 
and  maintenance  of  standards  is  a  two-handed  business — the 
establishment  of  standards  by  the  Government,  and  the  testing 
and  use  of  these  standards  by  an  enlightened  citizenship.  And 
in  matters  where  the  Government  has  not  yet  established  stand- 
ards of  quality  the  initiative  must  come  from  the  consumer. 

Consider  the  consumption  of  textiles — a  job  we  have  been  at 
ever  since  we  progressed  beyond  the  wearing  of  raw  skins.  But 
the  quality  of  textiles  is  still  one  of  the  unguarded  frontiers  of 
knowledge.  In  fact,  the  general  knowledge  of  quality  in  textiles 
is  decreasing;  for  though  the  specialists  have  grown  wiser,  the 
consumers,  who  used  to  know  a  good  deal  about  cloth  they  them- 
selves spun  and  wove,  have  grown  more  ignorant.  Have  we  not, 
all  of  us,  seen  our  mothers  place  a  wet  finger  under  the  table- 
cloths they  were  buying,  to  see  if  they  were  pure  linen?  That 
is  a  perfectly  good  test  with  hand-spun  linen;  but  it  is  a  dull 
manufacturer  who  can't  circumvent  a  wet  finger.  We  need  both 


270  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

the  training  of  the  schools  and  the  Government  guarantee  to  buy 
cloth  wisely. 

It  is  no  longer  enough  that  cloth  should  be  all  wool  and  a 
yard  wide — that  means  little.  Even  pure  wool,  when  it  is  short 
and  stiff,  or  soft  and  weak,  is  a  poor  purchase;  that  there  are 
qualities  of  cloth  in  which  the  warp  and  weft  are  so  uneven  in 
weight  that  the  heavy  threads  pull  the  light  ones,  and  the  cloth 
wears  itself  out;  that  there  are  weaves  in  which  certain  threads 
are  so  exposed  that  they  break  and  leave  a  rough  surface.  All 
tests  of  "pure  wool"  cloth ! 

But  this  is  only  a  small  part  of  the  study  of  woolen  fabrics, 
only  a  preliminary  to  establishing  the  standards  of  quality  and 
price  for  the  benefit  of  the  consumer.  Into  these  standards  enter 
conditions  of  cloth  production  in  the  factory,  wages  paid  opera- 
tives, taxes  paid  the  Government,  "Schedule  K,"  freight  rates, 
and  the  costs  of  selling  the  finished  product.  Nor  is  this  train- 
ing in  textiles  limited  to  general  principles.  It  applies  itself  to 
such  definite  things  as  blue  serge  and  black  broadcloth,  and  other 
standard  products.  Students  of  the  science  of  consumption  have 
determined  that,  under  existing  conditions  of  wool  production, 
price  of  labor  and  tariff,  the  lowest  cost  for  blue  serge  fifty-four 
inches  wide  and  of  efficient  quality  is  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  yard, 
and  that  the  lowest  cost  of  a  similar  quality  of  black  broadcloth 
is  nearly  three  dollars.  Will  not  the  trained  consumer  who  has 
thoroughly  assimilated  these  facts  realize  that  when  either  blue 
serge  or  black  broadcloth  is  offered  for  a  less  price  it  is  not  all 
wool,  or  is  wool  of  poor  quality,  or  damaged,  or  "mill  ends,"  or 
remnants?  Of  course  we  recognize  that  both  good  and  inferior 
cloths  have  their  legitimate  uses  if  the  consumer  is  neither  de- 
ceived as  to  their  quality  nor  overcharged.  There  is  no  reason 
why  the  law  should  prohibit  their  manufacture  as  it  may  well 
prohibit  the  manufacture  of  adulterated  foods  and  drugs.  All 
that  the  consumer  needs  is  to  be  protected  by  an  honest  label. 
How  could  the  world  get  along  without  "shoddy,"  for  instance, 
a  cloth  made  from  odds  and  ends  of  wool  fiber,  usually  fiber  that 
has  been  used  before,  when  the  present  production  of  new  wool 
is  not  nearly  equal  to  the  demand  ? 

But  the  student  has  got  to  be  taught  that  even  these  standards 
of  quality  are  not  absolute  things.  The  perfect  buttonhole  may 
be  produced  at  such  a  cost  of  time  and  labor  that  it  is  for  the 
general  advantage  to  use  the  commonplace  hook  and  eye.  It  is 
not  a  question  whether  we  can  individually  afford  to  pay  in 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  271 

money  for  hand-made  lingerie,  but  whether  the  community  can 
afford  the  expenditure  of  so  much  eyesight  and  time  and  thought 
to  make  what  is  perhaps  a  superior  product,  but  for  which  there 
is  an  approximate  substitute ;  for  are  not  things  expensive  to  the 
community  even  when  we  make  them  ourselves? 

Besides  knowing  what  is  for  the  advantage  of  the  community 
and  being  able  to  recognize  quality  when  one  sees  it,  it  is  the 
work  of  the  consumer  to  see  that  what  the  comunity  needs  is 
produced.  Can  one  eat  eggs,  however  wholesome,  in  a  land 
where  no  hens  are?  I  listened  to  one  domestic  science  teacher 
who  seemed  to  set  me  right  between  the  covers  of  "Our  Mutual 
Friend,"  where  Dickens  tells  how  "Mrs.  John  Rokesmith,  who 
had  never  been  wont  to  do  too  much  as  Miss  Bella  Wilfer,  was 
under  the  constant  necessity  of  referring  for  advice  and  support 
to  a  sage  volume  entitled  'The  Complete  British  Family  House- 
wife/ But  there  was  a  coolness  on  the  part  of  the  British 
Housewife  that  Mrs.  J.  R.  found  highly  exasperating.  She 
would  say  'take  a  salamander/  or  casually  issue  the  order  'throw 
in  a  handful  of — something  entirely  unattainable.  In  these,  the 
Housewife's  glaring  moments  of  unreason,  Bella  would  shut  her 
up  and  knock  her  on  the  table,  apostrophizing  her  with  the  com- 
pliment, 'Oh,  you  are  a  stupid  old  donkey!  Where  am  I  to  get 
it,  do  you  think?" 

A  good  many  instructors — far  be  it  from  me  to  call  them 
what  Bella  did — entirely  ignore  the  difficulties  of  getting  the 
"salamander." 

Inextricably  mixed  up  with  learning  how  to  get  produced  the 
things  one  wants  is  learning  how  to  secure  them  after  they  are 
produced.  The  consumer  must  be  trained  to  remove  the  ob- 
stacles between  himself  and  the  thing  he  needs.  These  obstacles 
are  usually  matters  of  cost — cost  and  its  contributing  causes, 
transportation,  the  exploitation  of  public  utilities,  the  smothering 
of  useful  patents,  and  the  arbitrary  limiting  of  useful  manufac- 
ture. From  all  over  the  country  come  letters  full  of  the  same 
things  that  are  in  the  contributors'  columns  of  the  papers  and 
magazines.  "Eggs  cost  sixty  cents  a  dozen,  so  we  use  rice  in- 
stead." "Electric  current  for  heating  is  so  expensive  that  we 
still  burn  coal."  "I  would  like  to  send  Harold  to  college,  but 
it  costs  so  much  that  I  cannot  afford  to."  "Do  not  use  butter 
in  making  pastry,  for,  though  the  flavor  is  better,  the  cost  is 
very  much  more." 

The  consumer  and  those  who  advise  him  take  prices  as  final 


272  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

things,  as  representing  the  true  cost  plus  a  fair  profit,  whereas 
in  reality — 

Now  the  trained  consumer  knows  that  there  is  no  fuel  like 
electricity,  so  clean,  so  reliable,  so  easily  controlled;  but  the 
better  trained  she  is,  the  more  certainly  she  knows  that  she  is 
as  much  cut  off  from  using  it  as  though  it  were  ambergris. 
Why?  Because  it  varies  in  price  from  ten  to  nineteen  cents  a 
kilowatt-hour.  I  have  just  called  up  the  contract  department  of 
the  Commonwealth  Edison  Company,  of  Chicago,  and  found  that 
the  net  rate  for  family  use  is  ten  cents,  exactly  the  same  as  in 
New  York  City.  But  the  people  of  the  region  have  taxed  them- 
selves to  build  a  drainage  canal,  a  property  now  belonging  to  the 
people,  which  has  developed  125,000  horse-power,  about  100,000 
horse-power  of  which  is  available.  This,  in  the  form  of  electric 
current,  at  the  very  lowest  estimate,  is  worth  about  $2,000,000  a 
year.  Some  experts  reckon  it  to  be  worth  ten  times  that.  A 
small  thing,  but  their  own,  and  what  could  it  not  do  if  turned 
into  the  kitchens  of  Chicago  at  cost?  Does  that  ten  cent  a  kilo- 
watt-hour rate  have  to  stand?  Is  it  wise  to  teach  the  consumers 
that  it  is  a  Heaven-fixed  obstacle  to  good  housekeeping?  They 
broke  down  the  $i  per  1,000  feet  gas  limit  in  New  York  City, 
the  car-fare  rate  in  Cleveland,  and  the  freight-rate  limits  in  Wis- 
consin ! 

I  was  talking  with  a  woman  from  Sun  Prairie,  a  small  Wis- 
consin town  in  the  midst  of  a  dairy  district. 

"Oh,  yes,  I  cook  with  electricity,"  she  said.     "It  does  cost  a 
good  deal  now,  because,  you  see,  the  plant  is  just  new  and  we 
haven't  paid  for  it  yet." 
"Paid  for  it?" 

She  looked  at  me  for  a  moment  in  uncomprehending  surprise, 
then  smiled  her  amusement. 

"Oh,  it  belongs  to  the  town,  you  know.  We  pay  a  good  price 
for  the  current  now — almost  as  much  as  they  do  in  the  city;  but 
as  soon  as  we  have  paid  for  our  plant  we  shall  get  it  at  cost,  and 
then  it'll  be  the  cheapest  thing  we  could  use." 

This,  of  course,  is  on  the  basis  of  a  municipally  owned  plant 
— a  small  one,  that  is  supposed  to  be  more  costly  to  run  than  a 
larger  one. 

The  University  of  Illinois,  in  a  pamphlet  written  by  Mrs.  E. 
Davenport,  has  worked  out  the  cost  of  equipping  a  single  coun- 
try house — one  that  can  be  sufficiently  lit  by  thirty  tungsten 
burners — with  an  electric  plant  of  its  own.  The  cost  of  buying 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  273 

and  installing  this  plant  is  approximately  $600,  the  cost  of  main- 
tenance from  eight  to  ten  dollars  a  year,  and  the  cost  of  the 
electricity  so  produced  is  five  cents  a  kilowatt-hour.  Now  of 
course  Mrs.  Davenport's  plan  involves  electricity  at  a  low  voltage 
to  be  used  for  lighting  only;  but  the  country  consumer  who  has 
refused  to  consider  the  kerosene  lamp  as  final  may  well  refuse  to 
let  the  coal  range  obstruct  her  efficiency.  Aren't  the  problems  of 
electric  light  and  electric  heat  Siamese  twins? 

Certainly  it  is  part  of  the  consumer's  job  to  perform  an  eco- 
nomic steeple-chase  over  the  fences  and  the  ditches  and  hedges 
that  are  between  her  and  the  things  that  it  is  for  the  advantage 
of  the  community  that  she  should  have  and  it  should  be  part  of 
her  education  to  practice  her  in  economic  hurdle-jumping. 

I  have  been  talking  with  Miss  Snow,  head  of  Household  Arts 
work  in  the  Chicago  public  schools. 

"If  this  instruction  in  housekeeping,"  said  she,  "were  nothing 
but  teaching  the  children  to  cook  and  clean  and  wash  and  do  all 
the  other  things  that  are  done  in  the  home,  I  shouldn't  be  very 
much  interested  in  it.  As  I  see  it,  Domestic  Science  is  a  train- 
ing in  the  valuation  of  life  relations.  It  concerns  itself  with 
government  and  politics  and  business  and  health  and  capital  and 
labor  and  the  social  setting  of  them  all.  It  is  really  training  the 
consumer  to  live." 

And  to  live  is  to  consume ! 

In  the  public  schools,  where  the  courses  are  comparatively 
elementary,  the  relations  between  life  and  the  specific  studies 
are  not  difficult  to  establish. 

Housekeeping,  even  the  larger  housekeeping  which  is  not  pro- 
duction, is  but  a  small  part  of  this  science  of  consumption  which 
can  operate  quite  as  directly  upon  a  memorial  statute  at  Wash- 
ington as  upon  a  can  of  beans. 

Consumption  is  our  one  universal  function,  and  through  it 
we  have  power  and  happiness  and  progress,  or  retrogression  and 
spiritual  and  bodily  death.  Some  of  us  already  know  what  we 
want  to  consume  and  how  to  get  it,  but  it  takes  an  educated 
social  vision  to  see  the  needs  of  the  race  and  how  to  satisfy 
them.  Is  there  any  bigger  work  for  the  universities,  the 
colleges,  and  the  public  schools  than  to  train  consumers  to  this 
end? 


274  SELECTED    ARTICLES 


BUSINESS  OF  HOME-MAKING1 

When  vocational  training  began  to  be  emphasized  in  the 
schools  it  was  inevitable  that  the  business  or  industry  of  home- 
making  should  be  examined  for  teaching  content.  It  occupies 
the  time  and  energy  of  the  majority  of  women,  its  success  or 
failure  has  a  vital  connection  with  the  welfare  of  us  all,  and  there 
is  increasing  discontent  with  inefficiency  in  home-making.  No 
longer  can  we  think  of  homes  as  independent  units,  where  the 
family  may  do  as  it  chooses,  but  rather  the  home  must  demon- 
strate that  the  sum  total  of  all  the  family  activities,  the  final 
resultant  of  the  family  life,  is  an  acceptable  share  in  the  larger 
community  life. 

Modern  industrialism  has  taken  most  of  the  gainful  produc- 
tive processes  from  the  family  group,  forcing  the  man  partner 
in  the  family  out  of  the  home  to  gain  an  income,  depriving  the 
woman  partner  of  her  former  share  in  these  processes,  and 
leaving  her  a  work  in  the  home  which  has  to  do  with  the  con- 
sumption of  goods,  a  work  formerly  shared  by  the  man. 

It  is  important  to  note  how  this  separation  of  the  two  part- 
ners has  affected  the  home  life.  The  loss  to  both  man  and 
woman  of  the  companionship  and  interested  assistance  of  the 
other  during  the  long  hours  of  productive  labor  is  not  made  up 
by  a  companionship  during  those  periods  given  over  mostly  to  re- 
cuperation. If  division  of  production  and  consumption  is  to 
remain  and  both  the  partners  of  the  home  cannot  equally  partici- 
pate as  producers  of  income  and  directors  of  consumption,  it  is 
essential  to  the  continued  satisfaction  in  the  partnership,  to  re- 
tain this  mutuality  of  functioning  as  much  as  the  free  time  of 
the  father  partner  will  permit.  Those  are  the  most  satisfactory 
occupations  which  give  him  a  reasonable  freedom  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  home  life.  He  must  first  satisfy  the  demands  of  the 
work  producing  the  income,  but  where  the  family  is  deprived  of 
the  father's  personal  assistance  in  the  home  life,  it  cannot  have 
as  great  a  home  spirit  and  happiness  as  would  result  from  the 
combined  personality  of  both  parents ;  in  addition  there  is  the 
reaction  affecting  the  spirit  and  efficiency  of  the  mother. 

1  By  Mrs.  Harvey  M.  Hickok,  Stanley  College,  Minneapolis.  National 
Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education.  Proceedings  9th  Annual 
Meeting,  1916. 


V/flycr  A>oq/| 


276  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

American  conditions  are  demanding  expert  service  as  relates 
to  the  consumption  of  economic  goods.  American  people  have 
become  expert  as  producers  of  incomes,  but  our  increasing  popu- 
lation and  the  lessening  of  natural  resources  even  before  the 
enormous  waste  of  the  great  European  war,  have  focussed 
serious  attention  on  the  use  we  make  of  the  goods  produced, 
we  are  beginning  to  make  some  progress  in  the  economy  of 
spending.  The  average  American  family  must  succeed  in 
demonstrating  its  family  right  to  purchase  goods  as  it  pleases, 
to  direct  its  own  consumption,  or  it  may  wake  up  to  find  its  mem- 
bers involved  in  a  species  of  slavery,  where  the  same  competent 
brains  of  the  successful  employer,  now  deciding  what  rewards 
are  due  the  workers  in  production,  will  also  decide  how  and  for 
what  these  workers  may  spend  their  earnings.  Since  the  father 
must  go  outside  the  family  to  produce  the  goods  to  consume,  or 
their  equivalent  called  income,  the  mother,  left  in  the  home,  must 
adjust  the  family  consumption  to  modern  conditions,  if  the 
family  is  to  have  a  safe  solvent  basis  on  which  to  build  its 
family  life. 

And  the  woman  must  be  trained  for  her  business.  It  is  no 
more  possible  for  a  woman  to  manage  a  household  instinctively 
than  for  a  man  to  succeed  in  a  business  of  which  he  knows  noth- 
ing. Is  there  a  more  important  subject  before  the  educational 
world  in  America  today  than  the  type  of  education  necessary  to 
produce  the  well  trained  home  manager  or  expert  on  the  con- 
sumption of  goods?  Where  this  preparation  is  not  utilized  in 
the  position  of  home  manager  of  the  smaller  family  unit,  an  ex- 
tension or  specialization  of  some  part  of  her  training  will  be 
found  a  most  acceptable  community  service  and  subject  her  the 
least  to  open  competition  with  men  now  engaged  in  the  usual 
productive  activities. 

Despite  an  almost  constant  opposition  of  the  woman  manager 
in  the  home  to  the  efforts  of  the  educator  to  gather  teachable 
material,  the  secrets  of  the  household  have  been  brought  bit  by 
bit  into  the  schools,  the  material  itself  has  become  more  and 
more  comprehensive,  and  many  of  the  cherished  traditions 
formerly  held  sacred  in  maternal  conclave  have  been  reduced  to 
scientific  formulae  or  openly  disproved.  There  still  remain  out- 
posts of  investigation,  of  course.  Among  these  is  the  formula- 
tion of  the  facts  regarding  home  Finance,  actual  investigation  of 
which  is  openly  resented  by  the  majority  of  home  managers. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  277 

But  education,  by  the  schools  and  the  public  press,  is  establishing 
definite  ideas  as  to  what  is  efficient  family  living  and  increasing 
emphasis  is  being  laid  on  the  economic  functions  of  the  mother 
partner  as  well  as  of  the  father  partner,  in  order  to  insure 
family  solvency  and  escape  that  bankruptcy,  termed  divorce. 

Can  these  functions  of  the  woman  partner,  the  comptroller 
of  consumption,  be  so  formulated  as  to  be  a  basis  of  a  definite 
teaching  program  to  fit  women  for  the  business  of  home-making 
either  in  the  typical  family  of  father,  mother  and  children,  or  in 
some  form  of  an  "associated  group?"  One  vital  condition  is  that 
the  formulation  must  also  appeal  to  the  experienced  home- 
maker,  the  woman  already  on  the  job;  that  is,  it  must  include 
possibilities  for  continuation  classes  to  be  offered  to  adults. 

The  following  analysis  of  the  work  of  the  woman  in  the 
home  suggests  such  a  formulation.  The  chart  accompanying  this 
article  represents  this  analysis  in  a  graphic  form.  No  attempt  is 
made  to  analyze  the  duties  of  the  father  in  order  to  secure  an 
income.  The  dotted  lines  on  the  chart  indicate  what  home  duties 
he  can  best  share  considering  the  time  and  energy  left  by  his 
outside  work. 

Preliminary  also  to  the  analysis  it  is  important  to  note  what 
is  meant  by  "family  solvency"  and  "family  resources." 

"Family  solvency  is  that  condition  arising  from  a  wise  adjust- 
ment of  all  the  family  resources  where  the  family  is  able  to  meet 
all  its  immediate  obligations,  and  in  addition  is  conserving  enough 
capital  to  warrant  a  reasonable  assurance  that  future  obligations 
will  be  met,  and  is  also  able  to  effect  such  transition  into  the 
succeeding  generation  of  families  as  will  insure  a  continuity  of 
the  best  in  race  and  family  heritage."  "It  must  also  be  under- 
stood that  family  resources  include  not  only  the  income  con- 
tributed by  any  member  of  the  family  from  outside  sources, 
but  also  all  services  and  differences  in  value  which  any  member 
may  add  to  raw  material  before  it  is  acceptable  for  family  con- 
sumption, and  also  all  those  services  and  added  values  to  com- 
munity life  contributed  by  any  member  and  thus  discharging 
family  obligations  to  the  community  group.  Those  families, 
none  of  whose  members  assist  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  commu- 
nity life,  beyond  the  securing  of  their  own  safety  and  comfort, 
are  not  meeting  all  their  'immediate  obligations,'  and  are  allow- 
ing other  families  to  pay  their  bills  to  that  extent." 

There  are  seven  main  functions  to  be  executed  by  the  woman 


278  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

partner  in  the  home.  First  she  must  be  a  good  "purchasing  agent." 
She  must  understand  and  remember  shifting  market  conditions, 
the  nutritive  values  and  costs  of  pure  food  stuffs,  the  wearing, 
sanitary,  and  aesthetic  values  and  costs  of  fabrics,  furniture, 
utensils,  and  housing.  The  family  needs  are  so  diversified  that 
expert  knowledge  of  many  different  goods,  milk  and  shoes, 
furniture  and  meat,  underwear  and  fuel,  is  demanded  of  the 
woman  home  purchasing  agent.  She  must  know  exactly  how 
much  she  can  spend  and  for  what  physical  demands  of  the  family 
can  be  afforded,  a  distributed  system,  where  each  kind  of  pur- 
chase has  its  own  allotment  of  the  total  income,  will  be  found  to 
yield  the  most  data  for  satisfactory  comparisons.  A  tentative 
budget  may  be  drawn  up,  combining  the  past  demands  of  that 
particular  family  and  the  best  practice  found  workable  in  other 
similar  families.  After  a  conscientious  adherence  to  this  budget 
for  a  year,  or  through  the  seasonal  changes,  a  more  permanent 
budget  may  be  worked  for  that  family.  Definite  training  in  pur- 
chasing is  an  essential  for  the  woman  director  of  consumption. 
Where  she  fails  as  purchasing  agent,  extraordinary  efficiency 
must  be  displayed  by  the  father  of  the  family  or  insolvency  of 
the  family  will  result.  Where  the  man  partner  attempts  to  sup- 
ply this  deficiency,  either  by  trying  to  earn  more  than  he  nor- 
mally can  produce  or  by  being  the  purchasing  agent  himself,  it 
may  result  in  using  just  that  amount  of  energy  needed  to  turn 
the  scale  in  his  business  affairs. 

Second ;  the  mother  partner  must  be  a  producer  of  "Finished 
Goods"  from  raw  materials.  The  preparation  of  foods  from 
food  stuffs,  of  clothing  and  furnishings  from  fabrics,  the  num- 
berless services  connected  with  an  acceptable  arrangement  of 
these  finished  products  for  consumption,  and  the  continuous 
cleansing  processes  demanded  in  the  modern  home,  constitute 
most  of  the  physical  labor  to  be  accomplished  by  the  home  part- 
ner. 

A  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  nutrition  in 
relation  to  food  combinations,  is  more  important  than  an  ex- 
haustive knowledge  of  the  old  time  empirical  formulae  known 
as  recipes.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  production  of  cooked  foods 
will  disappear  from  the  household.  The  physical  difficulty  of 
producing  heated  foods  in  a  satisfactory  condition  requires  the 
close  proximity  of  the  consumer.  No  such  necessity  compels 
the  maker  of  finished  clothing  or  furnishings  to  be  near  the 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  279 

consumer.  Therefore  these  productive  processes  have  largely 
left  the  home.  But  the  cleansing  processes  we  shall  have  with 
us  always,  and  where  their  physical  labor  can  be  reduced  by 
household  machinery,  the  woman  manager  will  have  more  time 
and  energy  for  other  important  functions. 

All  the  productive  processes  in  the  home  are  facilitated  by 
the  application  of  the  principles  of  scientific  management.  There 
are  many  home-makers  who  are  "forehanded"  in  their  work. 
All  the  dozen  or  so  principles  of  efficiency  taught  by  Mr.  Emer- 
son and  others  have  been  practiced  for  years  by  the  efficient 
manager  in  the  home,  although  she  may  not  have  called  them 
"standardizing,"  "routing  plans,"  "time  schedules,"  "dispatching," 
"efficiency  rewards,"  etc. 

When  one  adds  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  "producer  of 
finished  goods"  in  the  home  to  employ,  train,  superintend,  and 
suitably  reward  all  domestic  labor,  an  additional  emphasis  is  laid 
on  this  part  of  the  home  partner's  work.  Whatever  she  knows 
of  psychology,  and  pedagogy,  sociology  and  ethnology,  in  addi- 
tion to  productive  processes,  will  find  an  extended  field  for  appli- 
cation. 

The  solution  of  the  domestic  labor  problem  is  a  woman's 
job,  and  if  it  is  ever  to  be  accomplished  in  America,  the  cus- 
tom and  usages,  as  to  duties  and  privileges  of  the  household 
worker  must  be  standardized.  This  means  a  co-operation  and 
consensus  of  opinion  of  the  women  employing  labor  in  their 
homes.  Standardization  is  as  important  in  home  work  as  in  any 
outside  industry,  and  I  see  no  reason  why  it  cannot  be  accom- 
plished by  women.  So  far  women  managers  tend  to  make  their 
own  laws  and  customs  without  regard  to  establishing  standards. 
Until  competent  and  intelligent  women  can  feel  some  security 
and  dignity  in  domestic  service,  they  cannot  be  expected  to  enter 
it,  even  if  the  net  income  and  comfort  exceeds  their  present 
rewards  in  shop  or  factory. 

Third,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  mother  in  the  home  to  conserve 
the  family  health.  The  beginnings  of  prophylaxis  or  prevention 
of  disease,  includes  a  conscientious  adherence  to  prescribed  food 
schedules.  The  close  relation  between  dietetics  and  food  prep- 
aration is  indicated  on  the  chart,  also  the  connection  between 
sanitation  and  all  cleansing  processes.  Home  sanitation  will  de- 
termine the  limits  of  family  neglect,  but  within  these  limits  the 
family  is  responsible  for  its  own  health.  Family  safety  from 


2&>  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

communicable  disease  demands  active  interest  in  all  questions  of 
neighborhood  sanitation,  especially  the  disposal  of  waste.  It  is 
important  that  the  father  in  the  family  lend  his  interest  and 
assistance  in  these  outside  community  problems. 

An  important  part  of  the  work  of  the  "Home  Conservor  of 
Health"  is  the  recording  of  the  regular  examinations  made  by 
physician  and  dentist.  Although  the  school  is  beginning  to  sup- 
ply this  service  for  the  children,  it  is  just  as  necessary  to  take 
physical  inventories  of  the  adult  members  of  the  family. 

The  work  of  the  woman  as  "Home  Accountant"  is  perhaps 
the  least  understood  and  practiced  in  America  of  any  of  these 
functions.  A  family  cannot  be  in  a  solvent  condition  with  no 
definite  records  as  to  its  consumption  of  economic  goods.  A 
system  of  keeping  daily  purchase  records  can  be  made  simple 
enough  to  fit  any  condition  of  time  or  skill.  But  whatever  sys- 
tem is  used  it  is  essential  to  truthfully  record  the  purchases 
made.  The  price  of  a  matinee  ticket  or  the  extravagance  of  a 
useless  article  of  personal  adornment  must  not  appear  to  the 
eyes  of  the  trusting  man  partner  as  an  extra  bill  for  meat  or 
sugar.  Neither  can  the  man  retain  the  confidence  of  the  woman 
partner  if  he  makes  false  expense  returns  against  the  family  in- 
come. Such  transactions  are  as  dishonest  under  the  family  roof 
as  in  any  more  closely  watched  business  house. 

It  is  necessary  for  the  complete  safety  of  the  family  that 
monthly  summaries  and  yearly  inventories,  balance  sheets  and 
budgets  be  worked  out  and  agreed  upon  by  both  partners.  All 
questions  of  the  standards  of  the  family  life  must  be  adjusted 
to  the  earning  capacity  of  both  family  partners,  if  these  ma- 
terial considerations  are  not  to  overshadow  continually  other 
phases  of  the  family  life.  Also  both  partners  should  fully  under- 
stand and  agree  upon  the  conditions  governing  all  savings,  insur- 
ance, properties,  or  other  investments  affecting  family  welfare. 

There  is  no  question  relating  to  home-making  which  is  attract- 
ing more  attention  in  America  than  that  of  home  finance.  What 
other  nations  have  done,  our  suddenly  realized  need  for  our 
own  savings,  and  the  efforts  made  by  Banks  and  other  financial 
institutions,  have  induced  a  nation-wide  campaign  for  the  culti- 
vation of  thrift.  The  year  1916  is  the  looth  anniversary  of  the 
first  Savings  Bank  in  the  United  States.  There  is  an  opportunity 
for  our  banks  to  interest  themselves  more  definitely  in  home 
finance  as  only  they  have  the  machinery  to  cultivate  certain 
capacities  of  the  "Home  Accountant." 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  281 

The  fifth  function  indicated  is  that  of  "Regulator  of  Social 
Activities."  One  of  the  needs  in  American  home  life  today  is 
a  centralized  authority  which  has  the  power  to  regulate  the  fam- 
ily behavior  as  regards  social  affairs.  Although  a  large  share 
of  the  details  of  all  plans  for  recreation  must  fall  on  the  mother 
partner,  it  is  practically  impossible  for  her  to  succeed  without 
the  sympathetic  support  and  assistance  of  the  father,  familiar 
with  the  world  of  men. 

The  economic  waste  of  over-amusement  appears,  not  only  in 
the  excessive  proportion  of  the  income  claimed  by  amusements, 
but  also  in  the  waste  of  time  and  strength  badly  needed  for 
important  things.  A  definite  amusement  program  for  the  family 
would  correlate  the  necessity  for  recreation,  the  conservation  of 
time  and  health,  and  the  proper  budget  allotment.  Simple  pleas- 
ures, open  air  excursions,  informational  trips  to  many  places  of 
interest  can  be  had  for  the  cost  of  carfare.  A  simple  recreation 
schedule,  alive  and  interesting,  may  be  productive  of  invaluable 
family  habits,  which  so  largely  determine  that  complex  thing  we 
call  social  standing. 

One  of  the  most  satisfying  functions  of  the  mother  manager 
is  the  teaching  of  her  children.  The  mother  teacher  has  a  wealth 
of  the  most  interesting  material  and  the  advantage  of  the  first 
six  years  in  the  child's  life.  It  is  important  that  definite  working 
plans  be  made  for  the  study  and  play  periods.  Better  direction 
of  the  child's  home  activities  would  make  more  frequent  the 
really  natural  attainments  now  so  often  called  exceptional  and 
precocious.  Both  parents  are  responsible  for  a  complete  union 
of  the  child's  activities  in  the  home  with  those  of  the  church, 
school  or  recreation  center. 

Emphasis  should  be  laid  on  training  the  ideality  of  childhood. 
The  child  who  has  had  an  opportunity  to  live  in  an  imaginative 
world  at  the  time  when  he  was  acquiring  many  of  the  facts  of  a 
material  existence  and  has  learned  to  idealize  common  things, 
has  an  ability  to  soften  the  sterner  realities  of  life.  Thought 
habits  about  fairies  and  other  good  invisible  forces  may  also 
lead  to  a  basic  comprehension  for  religious  faith.  Also  whatever 
parents  desire  their  children  to  preserve  of  family  traditions  of 
race  and  heritage  must  be  taught  as  a  supplementary  education  to 
that  given  in  church,  school,  or  civic  center. 

Finally,  the  woman  partner  is  almost  wholly  responsible  for 
creating  the  home  atmosphere,  that  intangible  resultant  of  the 


282  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

physical,  mental,  and  moral  states,  that  pulling  together  of  all 
the  family  effort  to  reach  the  proper  home  spirit.  This  crown- 
ing success  of  the  woman's  effort  must  have  the  foundation  of 
successful  performance,  either  personally  or  directed,  of  all  the 
other  functions. 

The  thing  which  lives  the  longest  in  the  memories  of  the 
succeeding  generation  is  the  home  atmosphere,  a  subtle  pervading 
influence,  giving  confidence  and  sympathy  for  living  and  work, 
reacting  on  family  ambition  and  loyalty,  and  is  the  outward  ex- 
pression of  family  happiness. 


VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE 


THE  FIRST  JOB1 

Nearly  all  of  us  have  learned  to  think  of  vocational  guidance 
dynamically — that  is,  in  terms  of  growing  children  emerging  into 
a  changing  social  and  economic  environment. 

The  many  surveys  that  have  been  made,  and  those  now  in 
course,  need  to  be  converted  into  machinery  for  giving  continu- 
ous information  about  children  and  about  industry,  and  about  the 
changes  taking  place.  We  need  to  know  week  by  week  (and  we 
shall  know  when  we  realize  the  need)  the  number  of  children — 
say,  up  to  eighteen  years — who  go  to* work,  and  the  nature  of  the 
work;  and  the  number  of  juveniles  discharged  from  work,  and 
for  what  reasons.  And  we  need  to  know  what  becomes  of  those 
who  remain  at  work. 

The  most  favorable  point  for  the  establishment  of  such  ma- 
chinery seems  to  be  in  connection  with  the  compulsory  school 
attendance  laws,  or  with  the  juvenile  labor  laws.  In  Ohio,  Wis- 
consin, Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Indiana,  Pennsylvania  and 
some  other  states  it  is  possible  to  make  the  issuance  of  work- 
permits  a  means  for  the  automatic  and  continuous  registration 
of  most  significant  facts,  not  only  in  the  regulation  of  juvenile 
labor,  but  in  the  guidance  of  educational  policies.  Pennsylvania 
last  year  gave  her  administrative  officers  a  splendid  opportunity; 
we  are  waiting  for  some  power  to  give  them  the  vision  to  use  it. 

Juvenile  placement  service  should  be  more  directly  joined  to 
the  schools,  on  the  principle  that  a  child  should  be  under  official 
surveillance  until  he  is  safely  on  his  feet;  and  to  the  agencies 
that  are  cognizant  of  changing  economic  conditions,  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  public  must  guard  its  children  against  exploitation. 

The  more  fundamental  needs  are  those  that  the  school  has  to 
meet.  First  of  all,  it  is  necessary  to  reorganize  our  curricula  and 
our  administration  into  a  more  flexible  system,  to  the  end  that 
the  teachers  may  be  able  to  utilize  the  conduct  and  the  perform- 

1  By   Benjamin   C.   Gruenberg.     Survey.   37:370.   December   30,    1916. 


284  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

ance  of  the  pupil  day  by  day,  whether  in  the  class-room,  labora- 
tory, shop,  studio,  gymnasium  or  extra-curricular  activities,  as  in- 
dications of  the  pupil's  further  needs  in  the  way  of  opportunity 
for  instruction,  or  training  or  self-expression.  More  and  more 
schools  are  introducing  special  activities  calculated  to  develop 
vocational  ideals  and  vocational  purposes.  Normal  schools  and 
teachers'  colleges  must  prepare  teachers  with  the  information 
and  the  viewpoint  and  the  ideals  required  for  the  successful 
modification  of  instruction. 

Vocational  guidance  means  directed  educational  evolution  of 
living  organisms;  it  therefore  requires  the  services  of  men  and 
women  who  have  the  experimental  intellect,  the  technique,  social 
vision  and  sympathies. 


VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE1 

The  present  time  seems  to  be  opportune  for  taking  account  of 
the  significance  of  the  vocational  guidance  movement.  If  intelli- 
gently evaluated  and  directed,  it  has  great  possibilities  for  the 
improvement  of  our  systems  of  public  education.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  may  fail  in  its  beneficent  purpose  altogether  if  these  pos- 
sibilities are  overestimated,  if  irrational  methods  are  employed, 
or  if  impossible  results  are  promised. 

Like  most  new  movements,  its  chief  dangers  lie  in  the  ex- 
travagant claims  of  its  too-zealous  promoters  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  unreasoning  skepticism  of  the  ultra-conservatives  in  edu- 
cation on  the  other.  Somewhere  between  these  two  extremes 
will  be  found  a  reasonable  vocational  guidance  program  which  is 
receiving  the  attention  and  gaining  the  respect  of  a  large  number 
of  progressive  educators. 

For  example,  there  are  those  who  appear  to  believe  that  it  is 
easily  possible  to  develop  a  system  of  character  analysis  by  means 
of  which  marked  vocational  aptitudes  can  be  discovered  or 
equally  marked  incapacities  can  be  detected  and  pointed  out. 
Such  advocates  of  vocational  guidance  deprecate  any  attempt  to 
counsel  youth  until  a  complete  and  adequate  method  has  been 
worked  out  by  trained  specialists,  and  they  point  out  the  grave 
dangers  which  attend  an  "unscientific"  plan  of  guidance.  They 

1  By  Frank  M.  Leavitt.  School  Review  23:482-3.  September,  1915. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  285 

generally  demand  an  equally  thorough  study  of  vocations  and 
feel  that  the  information  thus  gained  should  be  systematized  and 
prepared  for  use  before  any  vocational  guidance  should  be  at- 
tempted. 

On  the  other  hand  there  are  those  who,  seeing  the  great  diffi- 
culty of  carrying  out  the  plans  of  these  extremists,  and  being 
quite  willing  to  delay  action  and  to  justify  the  schools  as  they 
are,  deny  both  the  possibility  and  the  necessity  of  vocational 
guidance  as  a  school  function. 

Between  these  extremes  will  be  found  many  progressive 
school  men  who  are  proceeding  on  the  assumption  that  the  pub- 
lic-school system  should  articulate  with  life  at  many  more  points 
than  it  now  does ;  points  well  distributed  between  the  professions 
at  one  extreme  and  the  humblest  vocations  at  the  other.  While 
they  appreciate  the  contributions  which  scientific  study  can  and 
will  make,  ultimately,  to  the  movement,  these  progressive  educa- 
tors see  great  need  of  immediate  action,  and  they  are  proceeding 
accordingly. 

Details  cannot  be  discussed  here,  but,  speaking  generally, 
these  educators  are  working  on  the  theory  that  vocational  guid- 
ance, is  not  a  new  function  of  education,  but  rather  an  old  func- 
tion which  needs  liberal  extension.  This  extension,  furthermore, 
lies  within  two  well-defined  fields,  the  first  being  curriculum  en- 
largement or  adjustment,  and  the  second,  educational  super- 
vision of  those  who  have  left  the  regular  schools. 

The  first  leads  naturally  to  the  establishment  of  new  voca- 
tional courses,  the  revision  and  adaptation  of  old  ones,  and  the 
necessary  "educational"  guidance  which  will  enable  the  pupil  to 
choose  intelligently  from  the  rich  educational  offerings. 

The  second  leads,  quite  as  naturally,  to  the  establishment  or 
improvement  of  evening  schools,  compulsory  day  continuation 
schools,  and  the  inauguration  of  what  the  English  term  "regis- 
tration"; that  is,  the  school  employment  office  or  "placement 
bureau."  All  this  may  be  designated  as  employment  supervision. 

We  are  of  the  opinion  that  curriculum  improvement  and  em- 
ployment supervision,  while  they  cannot  solve  all  problems,  will 
go  far  to  meet  the  present  demand  for  vocational  guidance  in 
the  schools.  Indeed,  as  was  affirmed  some  years  ago,  "vocational 
guidance  means  guidance  for  education,  not  guidance  for  jobs," 
though  "jobs"  may  be  the  ultimate  goal.  Therefore  school  offi- 
cials, even  though  they  cannot  command  a  vocational  survey  by 


286  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

trained  investigators,  should  take  an  active  part  in  the  vocational 
guidance  movement,  for,  surely,  all  who  are  genuinely  interested 
in  the  full  unfolding  of  the  American  system  of  popular  educa- 
tion are  hoping  that  the  movement  will  prove  to  be,  not  a  mere 
eddy  in  the  stream,  but  a  real  quickening  and  broadening  of  the 
whole  educational  current. 


VOCATIONAL  INFORMATION  FOR 
PUPILS  IN  A  SMALL  CITY 

The  course  in  vocational  information  in  the  Middletown, 
Connecticut,  High  School  is  divided  as  follows :  the  first  is  a 
careful  consideration  of  the  importance  of  vocational  informa- 
tion, the  characteristics  of  a  good  vocation,  and  how  to  study 
vocations;  the  second  and  main  part  is  a  detailed  treatment  of 
some  eighty  or  ninety  professions,  trades,  and  life-occupations 
grouped  under  agriculture,  commercial  occupations,  railroading, 
civil  service,  manufacturing,  machine  and  related  trades,  the  en- 
gineering professions,  the  building  trades,  the  learned  profes- 
sions and  allied  occupations,  and  miscellaneous  and  new  open- 
ings ;  and  the  third  and  concluding  part  of  the  course  is  a  prac- 
tical, thoroughgoing  discussion  of  choosing  one's  life-work, 
securing  a  position,  and  efficient  work  and  its  reward. 

Unfortunately,  although  there  are  many  excellent  reference 
books,  bulletins,  etc.,  there  seems  to  be  as  yet  no  one  suitable 
book  which  the  pupils  can  use  as  a  basal  text.  Here  may  I  be 
allowed  to  make  a  confession?  Owing  to  the  difficulties  en- 
countered in  assigning  the  lessons,  for  two  years  we  suspended 
our  work  in  vocational  information,  hoping  to  find  a  thoroughly 
satisfactory  textbook,  or  perhaps  to  wait  for  the  publication  of 
such  a  one,  but,  while  we  know  of  a  manuscript  that  we  think 
would  just  fill  the  bill,  we  are  through  with  waiting  and  are 
making  the  best  use  we  can  of  the  texts  already  at  hand. 

We  have  found  the  following  books  fairly  satisfactory  as  com- 
panion texts  when  supplemented  by  considerable  collateral  read- 
ing :  Careers  for  the  Coming  Men,  by  Whitelaw  Reid  and  others ; 
What  Shall  Our  Boys  Do  for  a  Living?  by  Charles  F.  Wingate; 

1  By  W.  A.  Wheatley,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Middletown,  Connecti- 
cut. School  Review.  23:175-80.  March,  1915. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  287 

and  Starting  in  Life,  by  Nathaniel  C.  Fowler,  Jr.  Among  the 
best  reference  works  for  the  pupils  the  following  are  worthy  of 
mention :  the  vocational  booklets  published  by  the  Vocation 
Bureau  of  Boston  and  by  the  Students'  Aid  Committee  of  the 
High  School  Teachers'  Association  of  New  York  City;  many 
free  bulletins  issued  by  the  federal  and  various  state  governments 
and  by  the  International  Correspondence  Schools;  catalogues, 
bulletins,  and  pamphlets  of  colleges  and  of  trade  and  professional 
schools;  many  trade  journals;  and  a  series  of  ten  volumes  on 
Vocations  edited  by  William  DeWitt  Hyde. 

In  studying  each  of  the  vocations  we  touch  upon  its  healthful- 
ness,  remuneration,  value  to  society,  and  social  standing,  as  well 
as  upon  the  natural  qualifications,  general  education,  and  special 
preparation  necessary  for  success.  Naturally,  we  investigate  at 
first  hand  as  many  as  possible  of  the  vocations  found  in  our  city 
and  vicinity.  Each  pupil  is  encouraged  to  bring  from  home  first- 
hand and,  as  far  as  practicable,  "inside"  facts  concerning  his 
father's  occupation.  Local  professional  men,  engineers,  business 
men,  manufacturers,  mechanics,  and  agriculturists  are  invited 
to  present  informally  and  quite  personally  the  salient  features  of 
their  various  vocations.  And  here,  since  these  experts,  not  being 
teachers,  would  otherwise  be  likely  to  miss  the  mark  completely 
and  present  phases  of  their  work  of  little  interest  or  value  to  the 
pupils,  each  speaker  has  explained  to  him  carefully  beforehand 
the  purpose  of  the  course  in  vocations  and  specifically  just  what 
is  desired  in  his  particular  address. 

In  order  to  make  this  presentation  of  our  course  in  vocational 
information  just  as  concrete  and  understandable  as  possible,  I 
shall  now  outline  for  you  two  typical  lesson  plans  in  two  rather 
separate  departments  of  the  vocational  field;  one  is  on  the 
poultryman  and  the  other  on  the  mechanical  engineer.  Also,  let 
me  remind  you  that  our  work  so  far  has  been  adapted  to  the 
boys  only;  a  little  later  I  shall  speak  of  our  recent  beginnings  for 
the  girls.  The  lesson  plans  now  follow. 

A  Lesson  Plan  on  the  Poultryman 

NOTE. — This  lesson  may  be  completed  In  from  one  to  three  days,  the 
treatment  depending  upon  the  particular  locality  and  the  needs  and  interests 
of  the  class. 

The  setting  of  the  lesson. — Before  taking  up  the  poultryman,  the  class 
has  had  a  good  introduction  to  general  farming  and  has  stressed  the  im- 
portance of  agriculture,  the  nature  of  this  sort  of  work,  present  social  ad- 


288  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

vantages,  remuneration  in  money  and  otherwise,  qualifications  and  educa- 
tion desirable,  and  starting  and  succeeding  in  agriculture.  The  pupils  have 
also  completed,  in  specializing  farming,  the  stockraiser  and  the  dairyman  and, 
as  soon  as  they  have  finished  this  lesson  outlined  on  the  poultryman,  they 
will  study  the  market  gardener,  the  fruit-grower,  and,  more  briefly,  other 
miscellaneous  agricultural  workers,  such  as  the  nurseryman,  the  seedsman, 
the  beekeeper,  the  veterinary,  etc. 

Lesson  assignments  preparatory  to  the  recitation. — All  members  of  the 
class  have  been  assigned  a  lesson  in  their  textbook  on  vocations,  or,  possibly, 
in  several  such  books.  The  class,  as  individuals  or  in  small  groups,  has  been 
directed  to  several  farmers'  bulletins,  issued  by  the  United  States  and  various 
state  governments,  to  the  agricultural  yearbooks  of  the  last  three  or  four 
years,  catalogues  of  agricultural  colleges,  and  if  possible  to  at  least  one  book 
and  one  magazine  of  the  following:  Down-to-Date  Poultry  Knowledge,  by 
F.  W.  DeLancey;  Farm  Poultry,  by  G.  C.  Watson;  Principles  and  Practice 
of  Poultry  Culture,  by  J.  H.  Robinson;  and  the  monthly  periodicals,  the 
Poultry  Fancier  and  the  Egg  Reporter. 

Two  or  three  members  of  the  class,  especially  interested  in  this  vocation, 
have  been  directed,  as  special  assignments,  to  interview  any  local  poultry- 
raisers  or  dealers  in  eggs  and  dressed  poultry  in  order  to  report  to  the  class 
such  items  of  interest  as  the  following:  how  many  hens  these  men  raise  or 
sell  in  a  year;  how  many  dollars  worth  of  business  they  transact;  what 
breeds  they  find  most  satisfactory;  whether  eggs  or  dressed  poultry  pay  bet- 
ter; whether  most  of  the  poultry  products  consumed  in  town  are  raised  near 
by  or  at  a  distance;  whether  the  poultry  business  locally  is  overdone  or 
offers  an  attractive  opening  for  young  men;  how  much  capital  would  be 
necessary  to  make  a  fair  start,  etc. 

From  their  books,  bulletins,  and  periodicals  the  pupils  get  vocational 
facts  of  a  more  or  less  general  character,  while  from  the  raisers  and  dealers 
interviewed  they  are  able  to  get  first-hand,  cbncrete,  localized  information. 

The  class  exercise  or  recitation. — The  pupils  will  learn  that  the  eggs 
produced  and  the  poultry  found  on  the  farms  by  the  United  States  census 
enumerators  in  1910  were  worth  as  much  as  the  wheat  crop,  or  about 
$620,000,000;  that  the  great  egg-producing  section  of  our  country  is  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley  and  that  this  product  is  not  raised  by  expert  poultrymen  at  all 
but  by  general  farmers  as  an  incidental  or  side  production;  that  the  scien- 
tific poultryman  makes  his  profits  by  keeping  better  breds  of  hens,  whether 
for  egg-laying  or  meat  purposes,  in  more  efficient  handling,  or  care,  of 
fowls  to  secure  greater  returns,  and  in  wiser  methods  of  marketing  his 
products.  Of  course,  they  also  learn  something  of  the  nature  of  poultry- 
raising  and  what  qualities  and  education  are  desired  of  the  prospective  poul- 
tryman, as  well  as  how  one  might  enter  this  work  and  how  succeed  in  it.  In 
this  connection,  they  will  investigate  and  discuss  some  of  the  many  advan- 
tages to  be  gained  from  a  course  in  an  agricultural  college. 

The  class  will  discuss  such  topics  as  these:  the  advantages  and  dis- 
advantages of  making  poultry-raising  a  distinct  business  rather  than  a 
branch  of  general  farming;  a  comparison  of  eggs  and  beef  in  nutritive 
value  and  digestibility;  the  likelihood  of  poultry  products  serving  as  an 
increasingly  important  substitute  for  beef,  pork,  and  mutton;  the  advis- 
ability of  selling  eggs  by  the  pound  rather  than  by  the  dozen;  how  to 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  289 

produce  eggs  of  the  best  quality  and  then  how  to  get  the  best  prices  for 
them;  how  to  test  and  grade  eggs;  how  to  discover  the  particular  hens  in 
one's  flock  that  are  the  best  layers;  some  of  the  best  breeds  for  egg-pro- 
ducing, for  meat,  for  general  purposes;  the  necessary  equipment  for  poul- 
try-raising, and  its  cost;  the  incubator;  proper  care  of  laying  hens  and  of 
poultry  for  meat  purposes;  and  which  is  better  adapted  to  a  particular 
locality — poultry-raising,  fruit  culture,  dairying,  or  general  farming. 

A   Lesson  Plan  on  the  Mechanical  Engineer 

The  place  and  setting  of  the  lesson. — The  treatment  of  the  mechanical 
engineer  in  the  textbook  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  the  engi- 
neering professions.  Before  this  particular  lesson  is  taken  up  the  class  has 
already  studied  a  general  introduction  to  the  whole  field  of  engineering, 
touching  upon  the  history,  the  general  division  into  civil  and  military  engi- 
ineering,  and  the  inestimable  services  this  group  of  men  has  rendered  and 
continues  to  render  mankind  in  relation  to  inventions,  manufacturing,  trans- 
portation, communication,  conservation,  sanitation,  etc.,  instancing  such  tri- 
umphs as  the  telegraph,  the  modern  printing  press,  an  automobile  factory, 
the  Simplon  Tunnel,  the  Brooklyn  Bridge,  the  Panama  Canal,  reclamation  of 
western  land,  etc. 

Next  there  was  considered  in  brief  outline  a  general  scheme  of  the 
work  performed  by  each  of  the  following  engineers:  the  civil  engineer, 
the  municipal  and  sanitary  engineer,  the  mechanical  engineer,  the  elec- 
trical engineer,  the  mining  engineer,  the  metallurgical  engineer,  the  indus- 
trial chemist,  and  the  architectural  engineer.  After  completing  this  general 
survey  of  the  engineering  field,  the  class  treated  in  detailed  fashion  the 
callings  of  the  civil  engineer  and  of  the  municipal  and  sanitary  engineer. 
The  pupils  are  now  ready  to  undertake  this  lesson  on  the  mechanical  en- 
gineer, which  we  are  about  to  outline,  and  they  will  make  a  similar  detailed 
study  of  the  remaining  five  engineers,  whose  general  scheme  of  work  we 
have  already  surveyed,  and  thus  they  will  complete  the  chapter  on  the 
engineering  professions. 

Lesson  assignments  preparatory  to  the  recitation. — So  much  for  the 
setting  of  the  lesson  on  the  mechanical  engineer.  In  preparation  for  the 
class  exercise  or  recitation  the  whole  class  is  asked  to  review  the  general 
scheme  of  the  work  of  the  mechanical  engineer  and  to  study  the  new  sec- 
tion in  their  textbook  or  books  dealing  with  the  nature  of  this  special  branch 
of  engineering;  its  advantages  and  disadvantages  as  a  life-calling;  the  re- 
muneration at  the  start  and  in  a  man's  prime;  the  opportunities  for  regular 
Employment  and  advancement;  and  the  natural  qualifications,  the  general 
education,  and  the  special  training  required. 

The  entire  class,  as  individuals  or  in  small  groups,  has  been  assigned 
special  topics  in  such  free  bulletins  as  Graduates  and  Their  Occupations,  pub- 
lished by  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology;  Suggestions  concerning 
the  Choice  of  a  Course  in  Engineering,  issued  by  the  Carnegie  Institute  of 
Technology;  Announcement  of  the  Co-operative  Courses  of  the  University  of 
Cincinnati;  Mechanical  Engineering,  by  the  International  Correspondence 
Schools;  in  such  catalogues  as  those  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology, Columbia  School  of  Mines,  Cornell  University,  etc. ;  in  such  books  as 
Goddard's  Eminent  Engineers,  and  McCullough's  Engineering  as  a  Vocation; 


290  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

and,  if  possible,  in  at  least  two  of  the  periodicals,  Popular  Mechanics,  Scien- 
tific American,  Engineering  Magazine,  and  Engineering  News. 

One  or  two  of  the  pupils  especially  interested  in  this  vocation  should 
interview  some  near-by  mechanical  engineer  in  order  to  report  to  the  class 
some  such  items  of  interest  as  the  following:  what  work  this  engineer  is 
engaged  in  at  present;  what  he  considers  the  greatest  piece  of  mechanical 
engineering  in  the  neighborhood;  how  he  ranks  his  branch  of  engineering 
with  the  others;  what  natural  or  native  qualifications  he  considers  of  great- 
est value  to  the  prospective  engineer;  what  subjects  in  high  school  he  con- 
siders of  most  importance  for  his  calling;  would  he  advise  the  regular 
technological  course  or  the  co-operative  school  and  shop  course;  does  he 
consider  mechanical  engineering  an  especially  attractive  profession,  etc. 

While  studying  this  branch  of  engineering,  or  some  other,  it  would  be 
well  to  secure  a  practical,  successful  engineer  to  talk  to  the  class  informally 
about  any  phases  of  his  profession  or  experiences  he  has  had  that  would 
prove  of  especial  interest  and  value  to  the  study. 

The  class  exercise  or  recitation. — During  the  recitation  the  class  might 
discuss  such  topics  as:  which  of  the  three  engineers  so  far  studied  in  detail 
renders  society  the  greatest  service;  which  one  is  most  necssary  to  your  par- 
ticular community;  which  one's  work  seems  perhaps  the  most  attractive;  what 
natural  qualifications,  what  general  education,  and  what  special  training 
are  absolutely  necessary  for  success  in  this  profession;  what  subjects  should 
constitute  the  best  high-school  course  preparatory  to  this  profession;  what 
subjects  the  best  technological  schools  demand  for  entrance;  what  are  the 
advantages  and  the  disadvantages  of  preparing  for  this  profession  in  a  co- 
operative school  and  shop  course;  what  kind  of  work  during  summer  vaca- 
tions would  serve  best  in  trying  out  a  boy's  aptitude  for  mechanical 
engineering;  what  is  the  difference  between  an  expert  machinist  and  a 
mechanical  engineer;  what  is  a  contracting  mechanical  engineer,  etc. 

We  have  just  introduced  a  similar  course  for  girls  the  second 
half  of  this  year  and  are  using  as  texts  Lasalle  and  Wiley's 
Vocations  for  Girls,  Weaver's  Vocations  for  Girls,  and  Perkins' 
Vocations  for  the  Trained  Woman,  directly  supplemented  by  the 
dozen  or  more  pamphlets  isued  by  the  Appointment  Bureau  of 
the  Women's  Educational  and  Industrial  Union  of  Boston, 
Massachusetts. 

When  we  consider  that  such  a  course  in  vocational  informa- 
tion is  practicable  everywhere,  that  it  is  inexpensive,  and  that 
besides  being  intrinsically  interesting  to  the  pupils  it  actually 
gives  them  greater  respect  for  all  kinds  of  honorable  work,  helps 
them  sooner  or  later  to  choose  more  wisely  their  life-work,  con- 
vinces them  of  the  absolute  necessity  for  a  thorough  preparation 
before  entering  any  vocation  and  holds  to  the  end  of  the  high- 
school  course  many  who  otherwise  would  drop  out  early  in  the 
race,  should  we  then  apologize  when  we  urge  upon  educators 
and  the  tax-paying  public  that  this  branch  of  vital  human  knowl- 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  291 

edge  be  given  a  place  in  all  our  high  schools,  especially  when  it 
will  require  only  as  much  time  as  commercial  arithmetic  or 
geography,  or  one-half  as  much  as  algebra,  or  one-sixth  as  much 
as  German  or  French,  or  finally  one-eighth  as  much  as  Latin? 

Let  us  not  forget  that  there  are  already  fifty  American  cities 
and  towns  giving  their  youth  some  form  of  systematic  voca- 
tional guidance.  These  have  done  the  hard  pioneer  work;  why 
can  we  not  increase  the  number  to  five  hundred  within  a  year 
or  two  and  then  make  it  general  within  five  years?  We  can 
easily  effect  this,  if  every  earnest  educator  will  do  his  part  in  his 
own  school  system. 


VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE  IN  BOSTON1 

There  is  much  in  our  present  industrial,  social,  and  democratic 
environment  which  emphasizes  this  function  of  guidance  in  the 
schools.  In  our  present  social  scheme,  among  other  factors,  it 
is  the  danger  of  the  omission  of  the  principle  which  has  given 
the  principle  no  little  importance,  for  in  our  ills  today  we  are 
impressed  with  the  necessity  of  prevention  of  ailment  rather  than 
the  curative  treatment  of  it.  Specifically  illustrated,  we  no 
longer  wait  until  a  boy  has  been  committed  to  a  penal  institution 
before  he  is  taught  a  trade,  but  we  teach  him  a  trade,  among 
other  reasons,  that  he  may  avoid  such  commitment. 

Again,  there  is  the  influence  of  the  application  of  scientific 
principles  to  human  factors  as  well  as  to  material  processes.  The 
choosing  of  a  vocation  by  the  "trial  and  error"  method  seems  to 
be  as  unprofitable  here  as  elsewhere.  There  is  too  much  staked 
on  one  chance,  and  there  are  so  few  chances  to  try  again.  The 
chances  are  always  against  the  boy,  and  success  means  luck 
rather  than  merit. 

Personally,  I  have  often  felt  the  need  of  emphazing  the  proper 
mental  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  youth  toward  his  prospective 
job.  Grit  and  courage,  I  believe,  have  more  to  do  with  success- 
ful adjustment  to  the  job  than  special  aptitude.  It  must  be  re- 
membered that  special  aptitude  toward  any  work  is  frequently 
accompanied  by  painfully  evident  special  inaptitude.  The  atti- 

1  By  Frank  V.  Thompson,  Assistant  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Boston, 
Massachusetts.  Vocational  Guidance  Association.  Annual  meeting,  1914.  In 
School  Review.  23:105-12.  February,  1915. 


292  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

tude  toward  the  job  is  always  as  important  as  aptitude  for  the 
job.  Moral  attitude  has  seemed  to  count  more  than  fortunate 
mental  and  physical  gifts.  What  vocational  counseling  would 
have  advised  the  youthful  Demosthenes  to  study  oratory? 

Vocations  are  less  plastic  than  the  individuals  who  pursue 
them.  Individually  in  the  job  was  the  mark  of  the  handicraft 
stage ;  automatic  machinery,  measured  time  reactions,  and  stand- 
ard products  make  the  job  comparatively  inflexible.  The  process 
of  adaptation  is  in  the  worker,  rather  than  in  the  work.  Compe- 
tent vocational  guidance  must  induct  young  workers  into  the  real 
world  as  it  is,  with  all  its  uncompromising  facts.  We  must  not 
allow  our  boys  and  girls  to  believe  that  there  is  any  royal  road 
to  vocational  success,  any  more  than  to  learning.  Some  of  our 
present  school  influences  are  at  wide  variance  with  the  main 
tendencies  in  our  industrial  society.  The  unrestricted  elective 
system  in  high  schools  emphasizes  aptitude  and  individuality  out 
of  proportion  to  our  industrial  structure,  wherein  co-operation, 
social  subordination,  and  standardized  tasks  are  basic  principles. 

The  few  scientific  tests  for  vocational  aptitudes  that  we  now 
possess  give  us  more  of  concern  than  of  promise.  The  voca- 
tional counselor  wishes  to  know  what  a  boy  can  do,  more  than 
what  he  cannot  do.  Our  psychological  tests  are  aptly  called 
eliminative  tests.  They  are  more  negative  than  positive;  they 
eliminate  but  do  not  evaluate.  The  practical  methods  to  be  at 
once  adopted  by  vocational  counselors  are  those  which  are 
obvious  rather  than  obscure.  The  school  records  of  pupils,  if 
properly  kept  and  reasonably  comprehensive,  furnish  enough 
presumptive  evidence  upon  which  effective  guidance  can  be  tenta- 
tively based.  Joint  conference  with  the  youth  and  his  parents  will 
give  the  counselor  enough  additional  information  upon  which  to 
give  competent  advice,  for  we  must  remember  that  guidance  is  a 
different  function  from  placement. 

In  Boston  concrete  and  definite  plans  for  organized  work  in 
vocational  guidance  are  gradually  taking  shape.  Faster  progress 
is  prevented  chiefly  by  a  lack  of  funds.  Most  of  our  work  at 
present  is  on  a  voluntary  basis  and,  while  well  intentioned  and 
often  effective,  still  lacks  the  force  and  achievement  which  is  the 
result  of  expert  and  compensated  service.  Our  present  organi- 
zation for  carrying  on  vocational  guidance  is  as  follows :  Each 
elementary  school  has  two  teachers  assigned  to  act  as  official 
vocational  counselors;  one  of  the  teachers  deals  with  the  pupils 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  293 

leaving  to  go  to  work,  and  the  other  advises  pupils  and  parents 
regarding  profitable  choice  of  high-school  courses.  Each  high 
school  has  one  teacher  and  sometimes  more  assigned  as  coun- 
selors, but  here  counseling  is  limited  chiefly  to  pupils  leaving 
school  to  go  to  work. 

Several  special  schools,  such  as  the  Trade  School  for  Girls 
and  the  Boston  Industrial  School  for  Boys,  have  provision  in 
their  organization  for  the  appointment  of  special  teachers  known 
as  vocational  assistants,  who  have  definite  assignment  of  duties 
covering  guidance,  placement,  and  follow-up  work.  In  the  Trade 
Schools  for  Girls  vocational  assistants  have  been  at  work  for 
several  years  past  and  what  they  have  been  able  to  achieve  fur- 
nishes encouragement  as  to  what  may  be  expected  as  the  result 
of  the  extension  of  the  kind  of  service  they  are  giving.  Assign- 
ment of  actual  instruction  is  limited  to  one  period  and  is  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  bringing  the  vocational  assistant  and  pupil  to- 
gether for  more  intimate  acquaintance.  The  chief  duties  of  the 
vocational  assistant  may  be  summarized  as  follows :  Visiting  the 
homes  of  girls  who  are  absent;  visiting  shops  to  learn  of  places; 
answering  calls  for  employment  and  placing  girls  in  shops ;  fol- 
lowing up  records  of  girls  in  shops,  assisting  in  adjustments, 
and  sometimes  replacing  girls.  In  addition,  these  vocational  as- 
sistants are  present  at  the  school  one  evening  a  week  for  con- 
ference with  working  girls  who  are  unable  to  appear  during 
school  hours,  and  lastly  they  keep  all  essential  records  of  the 
girls,  containing  information  relating  to  the  school,  the  home, 
and  the  shop.  Very  recently  the  High  School  of  Commerce  has 
had  incorporated  into  its  organization  a  department  head  whose 
chief  function  is  guidance,  placement,  and  follow-up  work.  A 
special  instructor  is  assigned  to  similar  duties  in  the  High 
School  of  Practical  Arts.  A  general  director  for  vocational 
guidance  has  only  this  year  been  appointed,  but  he  is  primarily 
an  officer  in  the  Continuation  School  organization,  and,  conse- 
quently, can  devote  the  lesser  part  of  his  time  to  the  specific 
problem  of  vocational  guidance. 

Some  description  of  the  relation  of  vocational  guidance  to 
continuation  schools  may  profitably  be  given  at  this  point.  When 
boys  and  girls  under  sixteen  years  of  age  leave  school  to  go  to 
work,  they  must  secure  the  necessary  working  certificate.  The 
process  of  securing  the  certificate  involves  an  interview  with  the 
•director  of  vocational  guidance.  From  the  school  comes  a  some- 


2Q4  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

what  detailed  statement  covering  not  only  what  is  conventionally 
known  as  the  school  record,1  but,  in  addition,  a  detailed  account 

249         BOSTON         PERSONAL    RECORD    OF    PUPIL 
PUBLIC  CONTINUATION   SCHOOLS 

(1914)  SCHOOLS      Personal    Record    of 

First  name  Initial  Last  name 

School Home  address District Suite  or  floor 

Sex Color Date  of  birth Birthplace Years  in  U.S.. 

Father's  name Occupation Business  address 

Mother's  name Occupation Business  address 

If  either  parent  is  not  living  so  indicate  by  placing  *  before  the  parent's 
name 

Date  of  this  record Date  of  leaving  school 

Grade  on  leaving Teacher's  name 

PHYSICAL  CHARACTERISTICS: 

Weight Height Neatness 

Special   physical   defects 

Remarks     

SCHOOL  RECORD: 

Conduct Times  present Times  absent 

Cause  of  absence Times  tardy 

Arithmetic    English    Geography    Reading 

Histo  -y    Grammar   Music    Spelling 

Drawing Manual  training Sewing   Cooking 

Penmanship     Science    Physical    training Physiology 


HIGH  SCHOOL  SUBJECTS.     Course 

English History Foreign   language Mathematics 

Science Clerical   Arts Domestic   Arts 

Special  talents   

GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS: 

Reliable Industrious Obedient Cheerful 

Courteous Has   pupil   initiative  ? Remarks    

Has  pupil  indicated  any  interest  which  should  assist  in  the  selection  of  an  o 

ccupation  ?     

If  so,  what  interest  ? 

What  occupation  ? 

D  i  Teacher          \  think  this  interest  should  be  encouraged  ? 

I  Vocational  Counselor  )   

Parents'  reference  for  child's  work  ? 

Previous  work  record 

Is  the  aid  of  the  Placement  Bureau  desired  ? 

Remarks    

This  Record  is  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Employment  Certificate 
Office,  218  Tremont  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

1  See  accompanying  card. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  295 

of  personal  qualities,  evident  aptitudes  or  shortcomings,  and 
home  conditions.  Personal  conference  enlightened  by  school 
information  enables  the  director  to  give  supplementary  advice 
regarding  the  prospective  job  and  to  assign  with  some  basis  of 
presumptive  evidence  the  proper  course  to  pursue  in  the  com- 
pulsory continuation  school.  Guidance  and  follow-up  work  are 
essential  features  of  the  Continuation  School  course,  and  the 
teachers  of  the  school  are  given  definite  time  in  their  progress 
to  attend  to  these  functions. 

The  Placement  Bureau  of  Boston  comes  indirectly  into  the 
problem  of  vocational  guidance.  This  institution  is  not  an 
official  organization  of  the  public  schools.  It  is  conducted  chiefly 
by  private  enterprise  although  receiving  a  small  subvention  in 
the  way  of  rental  from  public  school  funds.  The  School  Com- 
mittee of  Boston  has  encouraged  co-operation  with  this  insti- 
tution on  the  part  of  the  schools.  Copies  of  the  vocational  infor- 
mation cards,  mentioned  above,  are  given  to  the  Placement 
Bureau,  which  is  often  instrumental  in  finding  suitable  places 
for  boys  and  girls  leaving  school.  The  Placement  Bureau  has 
rendered  effective  service  in  replacing  boys  and  girls  who  have 
left  positions  for  one  reason  or  another.  The  Boston  Chamber 
of  Commerce  has  aided  the  Placement  Bureau  freely  by  urging 
employers  to  resort  to  the  institution  in  looking  for  juvenile  em- 
ployees. 

During  the  past  few  years  the  attempt  has  been  made  to 
acquaint  our  voluntary  workers  in  vocational  guidance  with 
some  of  the  most  important  facts  and  conditions  of  industry 
and  business.  Our  vocational  counselors  everywhere,  except  in 
certain  special  schools  mentioned  above,  serve  without  additional 
compensation  and  also  with  no  exemption  from  their  regular 
duties.  Consequently,  no  large  demands  upon  their  time  can 
reasonably  be  expected.  Business  men,  store  superintendents, 
and  trade  experts  have,  from  time  to  time,  made  addresses  to 
gatherings  of  vocational  counselors  assembled  from  all  over  the 
city  at  central  points.  More  benefit  has  resulted  from  contact 
with  special  private  institutions  like  the  Vocation  Bureau  and 
the  Girls'  Trade  Education  League.  The  bulletins  and  mono- 
graphs of  those  two  organizations  have  been  of  value  in  furnish- 
ing the  specific  information  about  industry  and  business  together 
with  wages  and  working  conditions  prevailing  therein,  which  the 
counselors  need  to  know.  We  have  been  fortunate  in  Boston  in 


296  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

enjoying  close  association  with  the  Vocational  Bureau  which  has 
been  a  central  point  of  organization  and  information  upon  voca- 
tional guidance  for  the  whole  country.  We  owe  today  our  vision 
of  the  possibilities  and  appreciation  of  the  need  of  vocational 
guidance  to  the  Vocation  Bureau. 

During  the  current  year  we  are  trying  a  different  method 
from  the  lecture  system  in  acquainting  our  counselors  with  the 
problems  and  duties  of  guidance.  We  are  carrying  on  a  series 
of  locality  conferences  under  the  charge  of  the  director  at  which 
discussions  take  place  concerning  the  way  to  solve  problems  as 
they  originate  in  the  schools.  The  attempt  is  thus  being  made 
to  organize  the  experience  of  the  members  of  local  groups  who 
usually  are  confronted  with  conditions  rendered  more  or  less 
uniform  by  reason  of  similar  prevailing  social  and  economic 
circumstances.  As  stated  before,  the  present  problems  of  voca- 
tional guidance  are  more  obvious  than  obscure,  but  organizing 
the  obvious  is  not  an  involuntary,  automatic  process,  but  re- 
quires specific  and  careful  attention  and  needs  completion  before 
more  developed  and  complex  procedure  may  be  undertaken. 

The  functions  of  vocational  guidance  should  be  more  exten- 
sive than  usually  conceived  at  the  present  time ;  in  fact,  vocational 
guidance,  in  its  limited  sense,  cannot  be  fully  effective  unless 
supplemented  by  personal,  moral,  and  social  guidance.  Unless 
the  scope  of  guidance  is  broadened  we  may  be  in  danger  of 
having  its  function  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  sublimated  fortune- 
telling  or  palm-reading.  We  feel  the  need  in  the  schools,  as 
never  before,  of  knowing  more  of  the  home  environment  and 
limiting  circumstances  of  the  boys  and  girls  in  our  schools.  But 
the  schools  at  present  lack  organization  and  the  means  of  as- 
suming effectively  larger  burdens.  Quite  recently  one  large 
high  school  in  Boston  has  accepted  the  assistance  of  the  social 
workers  of  several  settlement  houses  in  investigating  cases  of 
school  delinquency  and  irregularities.  These  school  visitors 
have  been  asked  to  go  into  the  home  to  confer  with  parents 
about  failure  in  school  work,  about  irregular  attendance,  and 
about  marked  infractions  of  school  discipline.  The  results  have 
proven  of  great  service  to  the  teachers  of  the  school  and  to  the 
parents  of  the  children.  The  teachers,  more  often  than  not,  have 
seen  that  they  have  misunderstood  the  causes  of  failure  to 
respond  to  accepted  classroom  standards,  that  what  was  supposed 
to  be  a  moral  lack  was  in  reality  something  very  different  and 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  297 

quite  condonable  when  the  real  reasons  had  been  secured.  The 
parents,  as  well,  have  been  led  to  see  that  the  school  is  some- 
thing more  than  an  unsympathetic  institution  making  demands 
for  conformity  with  regulations  more  legal  than  human. 

The  vocational  counselor,  or  perhaps  we  should  say  the 
school  counselor,  may  properly  conceive  her  duties  as  embracing 
quite  prominently  the  functions  indicated  immediately  preceding. 
She  should  know  the  child  in  the  school,  in  the  home,  and  in  the 
workshop,  and  should  be  a  source  of  guidance  to  the  teacher  in 
the  classroom,  to  the  parents  in  the  home,  and  to  the  child  in  his 
several  relations  in  the  home,  the  school,  and  the  workshop. 

It  is  quite  natural  that  it  should  be  assumed  that  there  is  a 
place  in  many  schools,  both  elementary  and  secondary,  in  our 
large  cities  for  one  or  more  trained  teachers  possessing  both 
sympathy  and  capacity  for  the  problems  of  the  counselor.  The 
principle  that  vocational  schools  need  this  special  service  is 
already  admitted  in  Boston  and  elsewhere.  It  will  be  illogical  to 
deny  that  general  schools  need  similar  special  service,  for  the 
motive  today  of  our  secondary  schools  is  largely  vocational.  A 
large  number  of  our  boys  and  girls  are  unable  to  find  places  in 
our  special  vocational  schools  and  resort  to  the  general  schools 
where  they  pursue  special  courses  which  promise  to  offer  some 
of  the  advantages  of  the  special  school.  A  current  study  into 
the  state  of  commercial  education  in  our  Boston  high  schools 
reveals  the  fact  that  from  50  to  90  per  cent  of  our  pupils  are 
enrolled  in  commercial  courses.  This  means  that  there  are 
in  this  single  field  thousands  of  boys  and  girls  in  our  own  school 
system  who  need  the  special  service  of  guidance,  placement,  and 
follow-up  work.  Our  boys  and  girls  are  receiving  this  attention 
in  part  and  as  much  as  is  reasonably  possible  under  the  limita- 
tions of  the  time  and  energy  of  the  regular  teachers,  but  the 
shortcomings  of  our  present  achievements  simply  emphasize  the 
need  of  additional  and  more  expert  assistance  if  the  sound,  sen- 
sible, and  long-cherished  aim  of  our  schools  is  to  be  better 
realized  in  our  day  and  generation. 

An  able  and  influential  monthly  magazine  contains  in  the  cur- 
rent issue  a  bitter  and  brillant  indictment  of  our  American  school 
system,  comparing  it  disadvantageous^  to  the  systems  of  Swe- 
den and  Norway,  with  their  agricultural  and  technical  folk 
schools.  "We  are  content,"  our  critic  says,  "to  hang  the  alpha- 
bet and  multiplication  table  around  the  child's  neck  and  then 


298  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

send  the  poor  thing  out  to  educate  itself." 

The  awakening  of  the  people  and  the  teachers  of  this  coun- 
try to  the  need  of  vocational  education,  vocational  guidance, 
varied  and  specific  educational  opportunities  of  a  great  variety 
constitutes  the  best  answer  to  the  above  taunt.  We  have  not  as 
a  nation  failed  to  hold  a  noble  aim  for  education,  but  many  will 
agree  that  we  need  to  proceed  energetically  toward  the  adoption 
and  extension  of  more  effective  methods  of  attaining  our  aim. 


THE  VOCATIONAL  COUNSELOR1 

There  needs  to  be  a  man  who  stands  like  the  signalman  in  the 
tower  by  the  side  of  the  railroad  track  watching  for  the  in- 
coming trains  and  setting  the  switch  to  turn  each  train  to  a  clear 
track.  The  engineer  on  the  moving  engine  may  know  much 
about  his  own  train,  but  he  cannot  know  which  tracks  are  clear 
and  which  are  blocked.  The  towerman  knows  not  only  the 
needs  of  the  train,  but  sees  the  condition  of  the  road  ahead.  So 
the  vocational  counsellor,  with  a  broad  outlook  upon  industrial 
conditions  and  a  personal  acquaintance  with  the  needs  and  quali- 
fications of  the  individual,  though  he  cannot  determine  the  life 
course  of  the  youth,  may  help  him  find  a  clear  track  upon  which 
his  life  trip  is  likely  to  be  happy. 

Let  me  emphasize  what  I  believe  to  be  most  important.  This 
task  of  vocational  suggestion  is  so  great,  and  may  be  of  so 
much  value,  that  it  should  be  undertaken  by  a  specially  qualified 
person  who  may  be  able  to  devote  his  whole  time  and  interests 
to  the  work.  In  small  communities  it  may  be  possible  for  the 
superintendent  of  schools  or  some  teacher  to  do  some  of  the 
work  which  might  be  expected  of  a  vocational  director,  but 
usually  those  people  have  enough  with  their  present  duties.  A 
vocational  bureau,  either  under  private  management  or  as  a 
branch  of  the  public  school  work  might  well  be  established  in 
every  city.  Such  bureaus  are  in  operation  in  Boston,  New  York, 
Cincinnati  and  in  other  American  cities,  some  of  them  under 
the  direction  of  the  school  department ;  others  conducted  by  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association ;  others  under  wholly  private 
management. 

1  From  "Vocational  Direction,  or  the  Boy  and  His  Job."  By  E.  W.  Lord. 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  35:sup.  73-85.  March,  1910. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  299 

In  our  schools,  there  should  be  systematic  and  complete  rec- 
ords of  the  personal  characteristics  and  vocational  bent  of  every 
pupil.  Such  a  record  which  may  be  passed  from  teacher  to 
teacher  as  the  pupil  advances  in  his  course  to  be  available  when 
he  is  leaving  school  to  go  to  work,  might  be  of  very  great  assist- 
ance to  the  conscientious  teacher  or  a  professional  vocational 
director. 

The  vocational  bureau  should  not  be  considered  as  an  em- 
ployment bureau,  although  it  may  sometimes  serve  that  purpose ; 
fully  as  often,  however,  its  function  is  to  prevent  the  applicant 
from  going  immediately  to  work  by  pointing  out  to  him  the 
possibilities  of  greater  profit  to  himself  and  of  greater  useful- 
ness to  society  which  may  come  from  entering  some  more  ad- 
vanced line  of  work  for  which  he  needs  further  preparation.  It 
should  be  remembered  that  a  vocation  is  not  simply  a  job,  that 
it  means  much  more  than  that  it  affords  an  opportunity  to  make 
a  living.  The  great  mass  of  our  people  succeed  in  one  way  or 
another  in  making  a  living,  even  tho  they  do  work  for  which 
they  are  ill  fitted,  and  in  which  their  enthusiasm  and  interests 
are  not  enlisted.  It  may  sometimes  be  necessary  for  a  boy  to 
take  the  first  job  that  comes  to  hand,  even  though  it  be  wholly 
distasteful  to  him,  but  in  that  case  he  ought  to  be  encouraged  in 
preparing  himself  for  something  which  will  be  more  in  harmony 
with  his  abilities  and  purpose.  The  idea  of  thoughtful,  personal 
choice,  and  of  earnest,  unchanging  purpose  should  be  cultivated 
in  every  young  person.  The  boy  who  has  wisely  made  up  his 
mind  regarding  the  career  which  he  should  follow,  as  he  can  do 
after  having  taken  expert  counsel  and  sympathetic  guidance,  is 
likely  to  find  an  opportunity  to  enter  his  chosen  vocation  and  to 
remain  in  it  successfully;  while  his  companion,  who  is  merely 
waiting  for  something  to  turn  up,  and  is  following  a  purposeless 
round  of  uncongenial  labor,  is  pretty  certain  never  to  find  the 
chance  which  he  vainly  hopes  will  come  to  him. 

I  do  not  present  the  suggestion  of  vocational  direction  with 
the  idea  that  it  will  prove  a  complete  solution  of  the  labor 
problem.  I  recognize  many  difficulties  in  the  way.  It  is  impos- 
sible for  us  to  discern  particular  talent  in  case  of  many  young 
people,  and  it  may  be  impossible  for  us  to  find  the  opportunity 
for  all  to  develop  talents  which  they  may  show.  He  who  under- 
takes the  responsible  position  of  adviser  for  youth  must  remem- 
ber that  he  is  working  with  human  beings  and  cannot  shunt 


300  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

them  upon  this  or  that  track  with  as  little  concern  as  the  switch- 
man turns  the  freight  train.  The  responsibility,  even  of  advising, 
is  great  and  must  not  be  lightly  undertaken;  yet  I  believe  that 
we  are  right  in  undertaking  it  if  by  means  of  so  advising  and 
counseling  the  young  we  may  be  able  to  save  some  lives  from 
wreck,  and  help  many  to  better  and  more  useful  careers. 


THE  VOCATIONAL  SURVEY1 

The  need  of  information  concerning  the  vocations,  particu- 
larly the  occupations  in  the  trades  and  industries,  in  order  to 
plan  systems  of  vocational  training  for  the  schools,  has  led  to 
a  number  of  surveys.  The  first  of  these  was  the  study  made  by 
the  Massachusetts  Commission  on  Industrial  Education  in  1006, 
which  was  followed  by  similar  investigations  by  state  boards 
and  commissions,  notably  that  of  the  Wisconsin  Commission  on 
Industrial  Education,  and  that  of  the  Indiana  Commission  on 
Industrial  and  Agricultural  Education.  The  purpose  of  these 
investigations  was  largely  to  find  the  need  for  vocational  educa- 
tion in  these  lines  and  to  consider  the  broad  administrative  pol- 
icies upon  which  through  legislation  the  plan  adopted  should  be 
based. 

Within  the  last  two  years  large  cities  having  the  resources  to 
meet  the  cost  of  thorough  studies  have  carried  on  surveys  under 
the  direction  oi  persons  of  experience,  to  gain  the  facts  which 
would  help  them  to  get  the  kind  of  industrial  or  commercial  or 
household-arts  education,  particularly  the  former,  best  adapted 
to  their  conditions  and  needs.  Among  these  have  been  the  stud- 
ies made  by  the  Richmond  Survey,  the  Cleveland  Survey,  and 
the  Minneapolis  Survey.  The  first  and  last  of  these  were  con- 
ducted by  the  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial 
Education  as  one  of  its  means  of  serving  the  cause  in  a  construc- 
tive way.  The  Society  is  now  cooperating  with  the  Indiana 
State  Board  of  Education,  and  various  local  school  boards  in 
Indiana  cities  and  counties,  in  the  making  of  a  survey  for  voca- 
tional education  in  various  types  of  communities  in  that  State; 
while  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  is  investigating  the 

1  From  introduction  by  C.  A.  Prosser  in  H.  Bradley  Smith's  "Estab- 
lishing Industrial  Schools."  Houghton  Miffiin  Co.,  1916. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  301 

situation  with  regard  to  vocational  education  in  connection  with 
an  educational  survey  it  is  conducting  in  the  city  of  San  Fran- 
cisco. 

These  surveys  are  predicated  on  the  idea  that  they  are  not 
only  a  good  business  proposition,  but  that  the  facts  they  gather 
and  the  expert  opinion  they  offer  are  necessary  to  any  intelligent 
dealing  with  the  many  difficult  problems  to  be  met  in  establish- 
ing vocational  education  of  any  kind  in  the  community. 

No  competent  American  business  man  would  think  of  estab- 
lishing a  manufacturing  concern  in  a  new  place  without  making 
a  survey — a  careful  study  of  all  the  important  features  of  the 
location  of  the  proposed  enterprise.  He  would  want  to  know, 
for  example,  the  location  of  the  site  with  reference  to  a  source 
for  raw  material,  competent  labor,  and  desirable  markets.  He 
would  look  into  the  physical  conditions  of  the  site,  its  slope, 
drainage,  and  composition.  The  switching  facilities  for  moving 
fuel,  supplies,  and  finished  product  would  be  carefully  investi- 
gated. Perhaps  most  important  of  all,  his  decision  as  to  locating 
his  business  would  depend  largely  upon  the  desirability  of  the 
community  as  a  place  to  live  and  rear  his  family. 

So  in  the  same  way  a  survey  for  vocational  education  is  a 
wise  business  proposition.  The  community  is  soon  to  be  called 
upon  to  invest  money  in  site,  plant,  equipment,  salaries,  and  sup- 
plies for  the  purpose  of  changing  raw  material  in  the  form  of 
untrained  youths  into  the  finished  product  of  young  men  and 
young  women  equipped  with  the  knowledge  and  skill  to  become 
successful  wage-earners  in  their  chosen  callings.  In  order  that 
neither  the  money  of  the  city  nor  the  time  of  its  young  people 
may  be  wasted,  the  vital  facts  about  its  vocations  and  its  voca- 
tional needs  should  be  gathered  and  interpreted  by  competent 
people  before  the  school  is  begun.  If  there  is  any  field  of  edu- 
cation or  of  human  service  where  the  old  adage,  "Look  before 
you  leap,"  applies  with  more  force  than  in  the  establishing  of 
vocational  schools,  the  writer  does  not  know  what  it  is. 

Every  community,  before  entering  upon  a  program  of  voca- 
tional education,  should  make  a  preliminary  study  of  the  con- 
ditions to  which  its  plan  must  be  adapted.  It  may  be  possible 
for  communities  to  borrow  or  copy  their  school  organization  and 
their  courses  of  study  for  general  education  from  other  places, 
although  this  usually  results  disastrously.  One  of  the  most 
pitiable  spectacles  in  education  to-day  is  the  rural  community 


302  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

which  has  borrowed  every  feature  of  its  work  from  that  of  a 
nearby  city.  Its  manual  training  has  no  relation  to  country  life. 
Its  courses  of  study  give  no  help  to  the  worker  in  agriculture 
and  lead  away  from  rather  than  to  the  farm.  All  its  work  is 
aimed,  not  to  prepare  country  boys  and  girls  for  rural  life,  but  to 
prepare  an  occasional  and  lonely  graduate  to  meet  the  entrance 
requirements  of  the  state  university. 

In  vocational  education  a  community  cannot  transport  bodily 
any  scheme  from  another  place,  however  well  it  may  seem  to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  latter.  Industries  differ  in  kind  from  one 
community  to  another.  When  of  the  same  kind  they  differ  in 
grade  and  therefore  in  their  demands  upon  workers.  They 
differ  in  such  things  as  the  entrance  wage  they  offer,  the 
health  risk  to  be  met,  and  the  opportunities  for  better  wage  and 
promotion  presented.  They  differ  in  the  attitude  of  employers 
and  their  willingness  to  cooperate  with  the  school  by  employing 
its  graduates  on  favorable  terms  or  in  employing  boys  on  a  part- 
school,  part-shop  plan.  Likewise  communities  differ  in  the 
attitude  of  organized  labor  toward  the  school  and  toward  recog- 
nition of  the  training  given  by  the  school  as  a  part  of  the  re- 
quired apprentice  training.  Communities  vary  from  State  to 
State  in  the  age  and  the  conditions  under  which  a  pupil  may 
leave  school  to  go  to  work.  Even  if  communities  could  safely 
copy  their  scheme  of  vocational  education  bodily  after  that  of 
another  city,  they  would  not  get  very  far.  Thus  far  industrial 
education  for  the  youth  has  been  established  for  a  very  few 
trades,  such  as  machine  shop,  carpentry,  cabinet-making,  printing, 
electrical  work,  automobile  repair  and  construction,  bricklaying, 
plumbing,  and  gas-engine  work,  in  the  case  of  boys ;  and  dress- 
making, millinery,  cooking,  machine  operating,  and  junior  nurs- 
ing, in  the  case  of  girls.  These  fourteen  lines  are,  after  all,  only 
"a  drop  in  the  bucket"  when  one  considers  that  the  last  United 
States  Census  listed  three  hundred  and  eighty-six  recognized  oc- 
cupations in  the  industrial  and  mechanical  industries  alone. 

Not  all  occupations  are  worth  training  for,  it  is  true.  Nor 
can  the  school  train  successfully  for  all  occupations,  some  of 
which  must  be  learned  "under  the  conditions  of  the  trade."  But 
it  seems  clear  that  thus  far  we  have  only  crossed  the  threshold 
of  our  task  of  providing  training  for  the  vocations  in  industrial 
and  mechanical  lines.  Vocations  are  to-day  highly  specialized, 
and  any  training  for  them,  to  be  successful,  must  be  correspond- 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  303 

ingly  highly  specialized.  The  search  for  common  elements  in  all 
the  vocations,  which  could  be  given  to  the  youth  as  a  preparation 
for  each  and  all  of  them,  has  been  from  the  outset  as  certain  of 
failure  under  modern  conditions  as  the  search  of  Ponce  De  Leon 
for  the  magical  fountain  of  youth. 

Without  precedent  to  guide  them,  upon  which  they  may  com- 
pletely rely  in  meeting  the  difficult  and  complicated  and  highly 
specialized  problem  of  providing  vocational  education  for  its 
citizenship,  communities  must  base  their  programs  of  a  local 
study  of  conditions  and  the  suggestions  and  recommendations  of 
those  with  most  experience  in  dealing  with  vocational  education. 

Not  all  communities  can  or  will  provide  surveys  carried  on 
by  outside  parties.  In  such  cases  the  study  if  made  must  be  con- 
ducted by  the  superintendent  of  schools  or  some  other  local  per- 
son. Even  if  communities  desired  a  survey  by  so-called  "ex- 
perts," there  are  few  persons  at  the  present  time  with  experience 
to  equip  them  for  the  task.  Communities  are  not  accustomed 
to  pay  for  such  investigations  out  of  their  school  budget.  It  may 
be  that  in  some  States  such  an  expenditure  from  the  school  fund 
is  not  authorized  by  law.  Too  often  local  self-sufficiency  opposes 
outside  interference.  In  many  quarters  of  every  community 
there  is  an  impatience  if  not  contempt  for  expert  service.  While 
the  money  which  a  community  would  spend  for  a  competent  sur- 
vey before  undertaking  any  plan  of  vocational  education  would 
probably  be  the  wisest  investment  it  could  make,  communities 
do  not  always  have,  or  at  least  they  do  not  think  they  have,  the 
money  for  such  an  innovation. 

For  all  these  reasons,  and  for  others  that  need  not  be  given 
here,  we  may  expect  to  see  the  survey,  conducted  by  persons  of 
experience  brought  in  from  the  outside,  confined,  in  general,  to 
larger  cities  where  philanthropy  or  an  awakened  public  sentiment 
has  made  the  establishment  of  vocational  education  on  an  exten- 
sive scale  possible  and  imminent,  and  where  the  call  for  an  ex- 
pert study  is  insistent. 

Most  of  the  surveys  for  vocational  education,  particularly 
outside  the  largest  cities  of  the  country,  will  be  conducted  by 
local  agencies  of  which  in  many  if  not  in  most  instances  the 
superintendent  of  schools  will  be  the  leader. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  MATERIAL 
FOR  SECOND  EDITION 

WAR  WORK  IN  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  > 

As  the  law  provides  they  shall  be,  the  activities  of  the  Fed- 
eral Board  for  Vocational  Education  are  largely  cooperative. 
This  board  administers  federal  grants  in  aid  of  vocational  edu- 
cation in  the  states,  and  it  is  at  present  largely  engaged  in 
providing  emergency  war  training  for  conscripted  men,  and  in 
organizing  for  undertaking  national  reeducation  and  return  to 
civil  employment  of  men  disabled  in  the  war. 

Federal  grants  become  available  each  year,  in  amounts  in- 
creasing from  approximately  $1,650,000  in  1917-18,  to  $7,160,000 
in  1925-26  and  annually  thereafter,  and  if  accepted  by  the 
states  the  federal  grants  must  be  matched  by  equal  amounts 
of  state  money.  In  the  past  ten  months,  since  the  board  organ- 
ized, all  of  the  states  without  exception  have  accepted  grants, 
matching  federal  with  state  money  to  be  expended  for  promot- 
ing vocational  education  in  the  public  schools  throughout  the 
country. 

It  is  a  rare  event  when  our  sovereign  states  elect  unani- 
mously to  take  any  single  course  even  when  their  own  best  in- 
terests point  the  way  clearly,  and  the  event  of  the  forty-eight 
states  taking  unanimous  action  involving  expenditure  of  state 
money  within  a  brief  period  of  ten  months  under  a  permissive 
federal  statute  is  unique  in  our  history.  It  is  in  itself  con- 
clusive proof  that  the  federal  law  in  this  instance  has  been 
wisely  conceived  by  Congress  to  insure  widespread  social  bene- 
fits. 

The  law  which  has  been  thus  unanimously  accepted  by  the 
states  is  a  law  for  democratizing  our  public  school  education,  by 
adapting  it  to  the  needs  of  those  who  must  prepare  to  take  up 
the  commoner  wage-earning  pursuits  in  agriculture,  industry, 

1  By  C.  A.  Prosser,  Director  of  the  Federal  Board  of  Vocational  Ed- 
ucation. Annals  of  the  American  Academy.  79:263-70.  September,  1918. 


306  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

or  commerce.  Under  the  law,  also,  vocational  education  is  pro- 
vided in  continuation  part-time  or  evening  courses  for  those 
who  have  already  entered  upon  some  wage-earning  pursuit. 

In  the  past  ten  months  the  Federal  Board  has  organized  its 
staff  of  experts  in  various  lines,  and  of  regional  agents  for  in- 
spection of  schools  federally  aided;  has  formulated  its  policies 
of  federal  cooperation  covering  the  entire  field  of  vocational 
education  in  the  states  for  agriculture,  trades  and  industries, 
and  home  management;  has  approved  state  plans  setting  up 
vocational  courses  in  each  of  the  48  states,  and  allotted  federal 
money  available  under  these  plans  for  the  fiscal  year  1917-18; 
and  has  maintained  inspection  of  courses  as  they  have  been 
established  in  numerous  local  communties.  Federally  aided  vo- 
cational courses  have  been  set  up  in  agriculture  in  41  states, 
in  trade  and  industrial  subjects  in  32  states,  and  in  home  eco- 
nomics in  29  states ;  22  states  have  organized  courses  in  each 
of  these  three  fields;  in  46  states  teacher  training  courses  have 
been  organized. 

The  record  of  the  states  in  this  work  is  impressive,  especially 
when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  the  record  covers  an  initial  period 
of  only  ten  months.  In  Massachusetts,  for  example,  vocational 
agriculture  is  being  taught  in  19  secondary  schools  with  federal 
aid;  trade  and  industrial  subjects  in  36  schools;  and  home  eco- 
nomics in  29  schools.  In  New  York  the  number  of  federally 
aided  secondary  schools  is  for  agriculture  69,  and  for  trades 
and  industries  40;  in  Pennsylvania,  for  agriculture  38,  for 
trades  and  industries  131,  and  for  home  economics  69;  in  Cali- 
fornia, for  agriculture  12,  for  trades  and  industries  14,  and 
for  home  economics  14;  in  Indiana,  for  agriculture  37,  and  for 
trades  and  industries  21 ;  in  Mississippi,  for  agriculture  34, 
for  trades  and  industries  I,  and  for  home  economics  3.  These 
states  are  taken  at  random  merely  as  illustrations  of  the  wide- 
spread development  of  secondary  vocational  education.  The  rec- 
ord for  other  states  is  equally  impressive. 

As  it  happens,  the  cooperation  of  the  Federal  Board  during 
the  past  ten  months  has  extended  far  beyond  the  scope  of  ac- 
tivities contemplated  in  the  organic  law  under  which  the  board 
operates.  The  administrative  machinery  built  up  for  under- 
taking the  joint  federal  and  state  enterprise  of  promoting  voca- 
tional education  in  the  country  as  a  whole  has  been  com- 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  307 

mandeered  for  war  service, — or  rather,  being  immediately  avail- 
able for  such  service,  it  has  been  freely  tendered  to  the  war 
offices  and  has  been  by  them  freely  utilized. 

Immediately  upon  its  organization,  the  staff  of  the  Federal 
Board,  in  compliance  with  the  general  policy  approved  by  the 
board  to  render  such  assistance  to  the  government  as  it  might 
legitimately  do  in  the  emergency  of  war,  began  to  take  on  war 
work.  The  training  of  conscripted  men  for  army  occupations 
was  conceived  to  be  the  sort  of  vocational  education  which  might 
most  properly  be  promoted  immediately.  Under  supervision  of 
the  Federal  Board,  war  emergency  training  classes  for  con- 
scripted men  have  been  organized  in  the  public  schools  through- 
out the  country.  A  series  of  war  emergency  training  courses 
for  army  occupations  has  been  prepared,  and  these  courses  have 
been  adopted  extensively  not  only  for  classes  organized  under 
the  direct  supervision  of  the  board,  but  as  well  for  classes  or- 
ganized by  the  War  Department  among  men  enlisted  in  the 
army  and  for  classes  conducted  on  a  commercial  basis  under 
private  civilian  control. 

The  emergency  war  training  bulletins  of  the  Federal  Board 
include  emergency  training  courses  in  shipbuilding  for  ship- 
yard workers ;  mechanical  and  technical  training  for  conscripted 
men  (Air  Division,  U.  S.  Signal  Corps)  ;  training  for  motor 
truck  drivers  and  chauffeurs ;  for  machine  shop  occupations, 
blacksmithing,  sheet-metal  working,  and  pipe-fitting;  for  elec- 
tricians, telephone  repair  men,  linesmen,  and  cable  splicers ;  for 
gas  engine,  motor  car,  and  motorcycle  repair  men ;  for  oxy- 
acetylene  welders ;  and  for  airplane  mechanics,  engine  repair 
men,  wood-workers,  riggers,  and  sheet-metal  workers.  The  prep- 
aration of  these  courses  and  the  organization  of  training  classes 
has  been  undertaken  at  the  request  of,  and  in  cooperation  with 
the  Signal  Corps  and  the  Quartermaster  Corps  in  the  War  De- 
partment, and  the  United  States  Shipping  Board. 

Growing  out  of  conferences  between  officials  of  the  Federal 
Board  for  Vocational  Education  and  officers  of  the  General 
Staff,  an  arrangement  was  perfected  late  in  October,  with  the 
approval  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  for  the  utilization  of  the  edu- 
cational facilities  of  the  United  States  by  the  Federal  Board 
in  cooperation  with  the  War  Department  for  the  purpose  of 
training  drafted  men  in  various  occupations  prior  to  their  re- 


308  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

porting  at  the  cantonments.  An  order  signed  by  the  Adjutant 
General  of  the  War  Department  under  date  of  November  3, 
1917,  issued  to  the  commanding  generals  of  all  departments  and 
to  the  chiefs  of  bureaus,  reads  in  part  as  follows : 

i.  The  Secretary  of  War  directs  that  you  be  informed  as  follows: 
a.  The  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education,  authorized  by  act  of 
Congress,  February  23,  1917,  of  which  Dr.  C.  A.  Prosser  is  director, 
is  now  organized  and  is  in  close  cooperation  with  the  vocational  schools  of 
the  country.  This  board  is  prepared  to  institute  a  comprehensive  system 
of  preliminary  training  of  men  of  the  second  and  subsequent  drafts  prior 
to  their  reporting  at  cantonments.  .  .  . 

It  is  the  desire  of  the  Secretary  of  War  that  the  chiefs  of  bureaus 
maintain  close  cooperation  with  this  board,  furnishing  such  information 
as  to  number  of  men  desired  to  be  trained,  necessary  courses,  etc.  For 
this  purpose  the  chiefs  of  bureaus  will  deal  directly  with  Dr.  Prosser. 

This  work  has  continued  and  the  War  Training  Division 
of  the  Federal  Board  reports  that  on  June  13,  1917,  12,000  men 
had  been  trained  through  the  Federal  Board  and  state  author- 
ities for  vocational  education,  and  turned  over  to  services— 
6,000  in  mechanical  lines,  5,000  in  radio  work  for  the  army, 
navy  and  mercantile  marine,  and  1,000  in  clerical  occupations 
for  Quartermaster  Corps  work.  It  estimates  that  an  additional 
3,000  men  have  been  trained  by  private  agencies  through  im- 
petus given  to  the  work  by  the  Federal  Board,  using  Federal 
Board  courses  of  instruction.  Incomplete  reports  from  state 
vocational  authorities  for  May,  return  over  6,000  men  in  train- 
ing— 3,370  in  radio  classes,  and  2,508  in  mechanical  classes, — 
and  it  is  estimated,  on  the  basis  of  April  returns,  that  the  com- 
plete reports  for  May  will  show  the  number  in  training  to 
be  at  least  7,500.  On  June  13,  the  May  reports  showed  165 
radio  classes  operated  in  38  states,  and  172  mechanical  classes 
in  49  communities  in  14  states.  Almost  daily  reports  of  addi- 
tional classes  being  formed  were  coming  in  from  California, 
Wisconsin,  Missouri,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  Since  the 
May  letters  were  sent  out  urging  the  establishment  of  new 
classes  and  the  continuance  of  those  in  operation,  renewed 
activity  has  been  reported  in  at  least  20  states. 

The  Federal  Board  war  emergency  training  bulletins  have 
become  standard  courses  in  corps  schools,  such  as  the  Quarter- 
master Corps  at  Camp  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  Jacksonville,  Florida. 
Of  these  bulletins  or  course  outlines  some  25,000  copies  have 
been  furnished  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  War  Department 
Committee  on  Education  and  Special  Training  for  use  in  its 
classes,  in  which  the  number  reported  in  training  was  7,086  in 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  309 

April,  10,685  in  May,  and  26,666  in  June.  Contracts  in  force 
provided  for  the  training  of  100,000  men  during  the  current  year. 
This  training  under  military  control  has  been  found  necessary 
to  provide  for  the  needs  of  the  army,  in  addition  to  the  train- 
ing in  voluntary  classes  under  the  Federal  Board. 

Vocational  Rehabilitation   of  Men  Disabled  in   the    War 

Even  more  absorbing  in  its  appeal  to  the  Federal  Board,  be- 
cause of  the  wide  range  given  to  vocational  education  as  a  means 
of  insuring  human  welfare,  has  been  the  investigation  of  meth- 
ods and  processes  developed  in  the  belligerent  countries  for  vo- 
cational rehabilitation  of  men  disabled  in  the  war.  Coincidently 
with  its  organization  the  board  initiated  its  inquiries  in  this 
field,  and  it  has  passed  those  inquiries  continuously  during  the 
past  ten  months.  No  other  agency  of  the  government  was  pre- 
pared to  enter  this  field,  and  the  government  naturally  turned 
to  the  Federal  Board  for  expert  service. 

The  enactment  recently  by  Congress,  without  a  dissenting 
vote  in  either  house,  of  the  Smith-Sears  Act,  entrusting  to  the 
Federal  Board  the  vitally  important  work  of  reeducation  and 
returning  to  civil  employment  men  disabled  in  the  war,  is  a 
recognition  of  the  services  of  the  board  during  the  past  ten 
months  in  accumulating  data  relating  to  rehabilitation  work  and 
in  devising  a  scheme  of  organization  for  undertaking  this  work 
as  our  men  return  disabled  from  service.  Here,  also,  it  is  pro- 
vided that  there  shall  be  full  and  complete  cooperation.  The 
several  government  offices  concerned  with  the  future  welfare  of 
men  discharged  from  the  army  and  navy,  including  the  medical 
and  surgical  services  of  the  War  Department  and  the  Navy 
Department,  the  Bureau  of  War  Risk  Insurance  in  the  Treas- 
ury, and  the  labor  exchanges  in  the  Department  of  Labor,  to- 
gether with  the  Federal  Board,  will  each  render  service  in  re- 
taining and  returning  to  civil  employment  men  disabled  in  the 
war.  The  Federal  Board  will  act  in  an  advisory  capacity  in 
providing  vocational  training  for  men  during  their  convales- 
cence in  the  military  hospitals  before  their  discharge  from  the 
army  or  navy,  and  will  continue  such  training  to  finality  after 
discharge,  as  the  civilian  agency  of  rehabilitation  and  place- 
ment in  industry. 

The  time  of  the  members  of  the  board  and  of  the  director 


310  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

and  his  staff  has  been  largely  occupied  in  conferences  with  repre- 
sentatives of  other  federal  offices,  state  organizations,  casualty 
insurance  companies,  chambers  of  commerce,  the  Red  Cross, 
and  other  associations  interested  in  the  restraining  of  men  dis- 
abled in  the  war.  Out  of  these  conferences  the  original  draft 
of  the  Smith-Sears  law  was  formulated.  A  joint  committee  of 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  conducted  public  hear- 
ings upon  the  bill,  which  as  finally  improved  passed  both  Houses 
of  Congress  unanimously.  This  bill  imposes  upon  the  Federal 
Board  new  responsibilities  which  in  the  immediate  future,  at 
least,  will  be  of  equal  importance  with  those  imposed  by  the 
organic  act  creating  the  board.  The  publications  of  the  board 
in  this  field  embrace  several  bulletins,  one  of  over  300  pages. 
In  preparation  for  the  assumption  of  the  new  responsibilities, 
the  director,  a  member  of  the  board,  and  representatives  of  the 
staff  have  visited  Canadian  institutions  for  restraining  disabled 
men.  The  secretary  of  the  Canadian  Invalided  Soldiers'  Com- 
mission, Mr.  T.  B.  Kidner,  who  has  developed  this  work  in 
Canada,  appeared  before  the  joint  committee  in  support  of  the 
proposed  legislation,  and  he  has  temporarily  undertaken  to 
assist  the  board  in  the  organization  of  the  work  in  this  coun- 
try under  the  Smith-Sears  Act. 

Opening  a  Larger  Field  of  Usefulness 

A  still  larger  field  of  usefulness  is  opened  up  to  the  Federal 
Board  and  for  vocational  education  in  general,  since  it  is  in 
mind  that  the  experience  gained  in  the  work  of  reeducating 
men  disabled  in  the  war,  and  the  administrative  machinery  and 
expert  service  developed  for  this  work  shall  all  be  utilized  after 
the  war  for  rehabilitating  the  victims  of  industry,  as  well  as 
the  thousands  of  natural  cripples  who  in  the  past  have  been 
abandoned  to  hopeless  indigence. 

The  Federal  Board  has  thus  undertaken  to  promote  voca- 
tional education  in  the  states,  and  so  to  promote  the  develop- 
ment of  such  education  in  the  present  emergency  as  to  provide 
for  the  special  needs  of  the  war  and  of  men  disabled  in  the 
war.  In  each  of  these  fields  it  has  appeared  as  an  adminis- 
trative agency  of  coordination  and  cooperation,  and  it  has  con- 
ceived a  vision  of  usefulness  in  the  future  which  it  believes 
to  be  in  a  fair  way  of  realization. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  311 

These  are  the  large  aspects  of  the  Federal  Board's  operation 
and  policies  during  the  brief  period  that  comprehends  its  own 
organization,  its  entrance  into  entirely  new  fields  of  vocational 
education,  its  extension  of  service  into  each  of  the  48  states, 
and  its  preparation  for  the  assumption  of  new  responsibilities 
in  rehabilitating  the  disabled  and  crippled. 

A  survey  of  the  past  ten  months  warrants  the  conclusion 
that  the  program  of  vocational  education  is  in  a  fair  way  of 
being  realized  even  beyond  the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  those 
who  have  in  the  past  participated  in  formulating  that  program. 
Education  in  the  public  schools  is  rapidly  being  democratized 
and  adapted  to  the  needs  of  our  citizenship.  In  realizing  this 
program  the  states  have  responded  splendidly.  State  education 
authorities  also  responded  splendidly  to  the  appeal  of  the  fed- 
eral government,  through  the  Federal  Board,  to  demonstrate 
the  practical  utility  of  vocational  education  in  the  exacting 
emergency  of  war.  The  institutions  providing  vocational  train- 
ing for  conscripted  men  have  stood  the  acid  test  of  devising 
schemes  of  training  to  meet  the  special  requirements  of  waging 
war.  This  demonstration  of  social  service  in  a  great  emer- 
gency will  stand  to  the  credit  of  vocational  education  after  the 
war  is  won  as  fulfilling  the  highest  ideals  of  its  advocates,  and 
it  may  confidently  be  anticipated  that  the  achievements  in  the 
future,  when  the  community  returns  to  its  peaceful  pursuits, 
will  even  exceed  those  rendered  in  war  time. 


NEW  WINE  IN  NEW  BOTTLES  l 

Such  considerations  suggest  to  me  some  working  principles 
of  organization  and  method,  not  all  of  which  will  receive  unan- 
imous assent. 

i.  No  high  school  student  looking  forward  to  the  university 
should  ever  be  encouraged  to  believe  that  our  new  subjects 
are  not  for  him.  In  fact,  unless  he  could  show  that  his  home 
life,  as  was  the  case  pretty  generally  during  pioneering  days, 
was  giving  him  a  substantial  equivalent,  I  should  prescribe  one 
or  another  for  him,  as  a  human  being,  as  a  future  sure-footed 

1  From  article  by  Alexis  F.  Lange,  Dean  of  School  of  Education,  Uni- 
versity of  California.  Manual  Training.  19:9-12.  September,  1917- 


312  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

and  sure-handed  thinker,  and  as  an  intelligent,  systematic,  co- 
operative citizen  in  a  democratic  commonwealth,  and  should 
thus  assist  him  on  the  way  toward  thorobredness  thru  action  for 
action. 

2.  No    high    school    student   whose    formal   schooling    ends 
with  high  school  graduation  or  before  should  have  his  chances 
to   make  a   life  as  well   as  a   living  curtailed.     We  commit   a 
crime  against  him  if  we  regard  him  as  merely  an  economic  de- 
vice, a  means  to  a  livelihood,  as  a  tool  for  Capital  to  use  and 
to   exploit,   and  then  organize  a  course  of   study  and  training 
which  prevents  him   from  winning  possession,  as  far  as  he  is 
able,  of  his  rightful  heritage,  i.  e.  knowledge  of  man  and  nature, 
art,   and   thought-out   ideals   of   individual    and   social   conduct. 
Then,  too,   unmitigated   and  too   early   specialization   results  in 
employes  not  in  masters,  in  dependents,  not  in  free  men.    More- 
over,  while    national   progress    depends   on    specialized   skill,    it 
depends  even  more  on  a  people's  general  social  efficiency,  i.  e. 
on  the  height  of  the  plane  on  which  the  greatest  possible  num- 
ber of  citizens  are  able  to  meet  in  thinking,  feeling,  and  hence 
willing.     Specialization  alone  is  the  right  thing  for  a  despotism 
that  wants  to  maintain  itself. 

3.  In    organizing   these    new   subjects    for    purposes    of   in- 
struction two  pitfalls  are  to  be  avoided.     One  of  them  is  that 
of  trying  to  teach  subjects  instead  of  teaching  boys  and  girls. 
Would  so  many  students   feel  that  the  traditional  subjects  are 
not  worth  while  if  their  teachers  did  not  isolate  these  subjects 
from  every  human  interest  present  or  to  come,  except  that  of 
the   professional   specialist?     If   these  teachers   kept   their   eyes 
on  their  pupils  and  on  the  far  goal  of  all  education,  would  not 
the  physics  teacher  recall  that  physics  developed  out  of  the  use 
of  tools  and  mechanical  appliances,  and  the  chemistry  teacher 
that   chemistry  had   its  origin  in   the   processes   of   dyeing  and 
bleaching,    and   the    mathematics    teacher   that   geometry    means 
earth-measuring?     Might   it  not  happen  then  that  each  would 
utilize  the  pupil's  daily  life  and  that  of  his  community,  and  by 
problems    of    knowing    and    doing    make    him    realize    that    the 
physical   world  is  ^intelligible,  and  that  man  by  setting  thought 
to  work  has  compelled  Nature  to  serve  him?     Something  anal- 
ogous to  this  holds  for  every  other  of  the  traditional  subjects, 
even  for  Latin. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  313 

Teaching  boys  and  girls  by  means  of  subjects  rather  than 
subjects  by  means  of  boys  and  girls  will  prevent  us  from  drop- 
ping into  the  other  pitfall — that  of  making  manual  dexterity 
the  Alpha  and  Omega  instead  of  regarding  it  as  a  necessary  re- 
sult or  by-product.  In  the  long  run,  the  most  practical  things 
are  always  those  powers  and  qualities  that  may  separate  human 
beings  from  trick-dogs,  such  as  the  ability  to  get  at  underlying 
principles  and  then  to  apply  them;  judgment,  imagination  de- 
veloped thru  the  possibilities  of  actual  situations,  courage  to 
say  no  to  one's  self,  forms  of  behavior  that  facilitate  social 
intercourse,  etc.  Such  powers  and  qualities  are  truly  practical 
both  in  making  a  life  and  in  making  a  living.  We  must  see, 
further,  I  think,  that  each  of  the  numerous  vocations  for  which 
the  new  subjects  may  serve  as  foundations,  means  so  much  more 
than  technique.  Each  means  a  mode  of  life.  Farming,  for  ex- 
ample, does  not  mean  raising  crops  or  cattle.  According  to 
who  and  what  the  farmer  is,  it  means  a  good  or  bad  or  an  in- 
different business.  It  may  mean  a  home,  sanitary,  comfortable, 
and  beautiful ;  or  it  may  mean  a  pig-sty.  It  may  mean  no  re- 
sources of  thought  beyond  the  daily  labor;  it  may  mean  a  stead- 
ily increasing  participation  in  the  best  that  is  being  thought 
and  said  and  done  in  the  world.  And  so  we  are  obviously  not 
giving  our  pupils  a  square  deal  if  we  dissociate  technical  proc- 
esses and  activities  from  the  life  implied,  and  the  life  implied 
from  its  connection  with  the  inclusive  life  of  the  state  and  the 
nation.  Moreover,  while  pupils  are  learning  to  apply  intelligence, 
under  expert  guidance,  to  the  arts,  until  recently  acquired  thru 
imitation  or  a  rule-of-thumb  apprenticeship,  should  they  not 
learn  also  to  apply  intelligence  to  traditional  or  existing  economic 
and  social  settings  for  these  arts,  in  order  that  they  may  take 
with  them  into  their  vocations  better  ways  of  doing  better  things 
in  the  management  of  life  as  a  whole?  One  of  the  special  func- 
tions of  those  interested  in  vocational  guidance  might  very  legiti- 
mately and  desirably  be  that  of  furnishing  information  con- 
cerning vocations  as  modes  of  life  both  as  to  what  they  now 
are  and  what  they  may  be  made. 

Our  new  wine,  as  intimated,  in  order  to  develop  its  full 
potency  and  characteristic  flavor,  requires  appropriate  new  bot- 
tles. Here  is  a  challenge  and  a  great  opportunity,  be  the  dif- 
ficulties encountered  ever  so  great.  The  nature  and  setting  of 


314  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

the  new  subjects  and  their  appeal  to  youth  are  such  that  we  can 
do  more  than  any  one  else  toward  making  school  life  a  con- 
tinuation or  expression  of  adult  community  life  at  its  best,  and 
the  starting  point,  directly  and  indirectly  for  its  improvement. 
We  are  especially  called  upon  to  forge  new  links  between  the 
school  and  the  home,  the  farm,  the  workshop,  and  the  best 
community  institutions  for  social  intercourse  and  recreation.  By 
and  by  we  can  perhaps — the  hardest  task  of  all — put  the  fear 
of  the  Lord,  if  not  life,  into  the  academic  teacher,  so-called, 
and  assist  thus  in  making  every  high  school  subject  and  the 
whole  high  school  community  life  promote  for  every  pupil  the 
making  of  a  life.  The  school  must  form  a  whole  with  the 
rest  of  life. 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF 
THE  WORLD  WAR1 

The  social  idealism  of  the  young  people  of  our  country  has 
not  been  genuinely  touched  and  called  upon  in  times  of  peace, 
and  we  have,  I  think,  to  admit  that  one  of  the  features  of  the 
war  system  has  been  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  young 
men  have  been  brought  to  view  their  training  and  their  capacity 
in  the  light  of  social  needs  and  demands,  in  a  way  in  which 
their  college  and  technical  education  before  that  was  not  calling 
them  out.  At  present  our  young  people  simply  do  not  know 
how  to  see  clearly  the  opportunities  and  the  channels,  so  that 
their  native  social  idealism  gradually  flickers  and  sinks  for 
lack  of  a  field  for  exercise,  or  is  diverted  into  fields  of  business 
ambition  where  their  energies  get  an  outlet  or,  still  worse,  be- 
come dissipated  in  the  trivial  channels  of  society  pursuits.  The 
younger  citizens  of  our  country  who  have  not  learned  the  full 
meaning  of  a  release  from  the  smaller  things,  that  release 
which  comes  from  a  chance  to  take  part  in  directing  larger 
social  activities,  will  respond  with  eagerness  to  any  further 
appeal  and  all  the  more  so  because  it  is  in  line  with  the  tradi- 
tions and  occupations  of  our  reconstructed  social  relation.  It 
would  be,  it  seems  to  me,  hardly  short  of  a  crime  if  we  permit 

1  From  article  by  John  Dewey,  Professor  of  Philosophy,  Columbia 
University.  Vocational  Education  Association  of  the  Middle  West.  Bui.  4. 
January,  1918. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  315 

this  newly  stirred  idealism  of  our  youth  to  dissipate  itself,  after 
the  war,  in  the  colleges  and  beaten  channels. 

My  other  suggestion  is  of  the  same  nature,  but  applies  not 
so  much  to  the  younger  or  human  beings  as  to  the  branches 
of  learning  and  science  which  have  gone  into  the  conscious 
service  of  the  nation.  We  all  know  how  large  the  organization 
is — we  all  know  how  large  are  the  organized  resources  of  the 
sciences  of  physiology,  hygiene,  medicine,  political  economy, 
psychology,  how  these  sciences  have  been  organized  and  mob- 
ilized on  a  large  scale  for  national  use.  Now,  through  this 
fact,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  scientific  and  technical'  men 
have  learned  in  an  intense  way,  and  a  direct  way,  in  which 
they  have  not  learned  before,  the  lesson  of  social  importance 
of  their  particular  branch  of  knowledge  and  skill.  There  are 
for  example,  over  two  hundred  youths  of  our  country,  who  have 
been  trained  in  our  schools  in  the  science  of  psychology  who 
are  immediately  going  to  have  their  activities  put  to  actual 
national  use.  That  is  one  illustration  with  which  I  happen  to 
be  personally  familiar,  but  it  merely  indicates  what  is  going  on 
in  all  lines  on  account  of  the  war  throughout  this  country. 
They  have  been  given  a  chance  to  translate  specialized  knowl- 
edge into  some  direct  public  and  national  service.  I  don't  think 
if  many  of  the  men  have  a  chance  to  use  their  specialized  learn- 
ing, their  scientific  knowledge  or  their  artistic  skill  after  the 
war  in  some  constructive  form  of  national  service,  they  will  be 
compelled  to  withdraw  into  their  former  aloof  seclusion  and 
continue  to  carry  on  their  work  in  the  remote  over-specialized, 
over-technical  way  in  which  most  of  us  were  carrying  it  on  be- 
fore. There  is  the  opportunity,  one  might  say,  of  the  censor 
to  gather  the  resources  of  men  of  science,  of  art  in  various 
lines,  and  concentrate  them  upon  the  plan  of  first  working  out 
this  scheme  and  then  putting  it  into  actual  execution.  Surely 
the  needs  of  health  and  happiness,  of  efficiency,  of  artistic  crea- 
tion, of  the  enjoyment  of  leisure  in  times  of  peace,  cannot  be 
less  important  than  securing  and  calling  out  the  mobilization 
of  these  resources,  under  the  necessities  of  the  war  situation. 

There  is  one  answer,  not  exactly  a  reply,  but  a  rejoinder  to 
some  such  project  as  I  have  endeavored  here  to  paint  in  its 
large  outline,  and  that  is  the  old  answer:  It  is  impracticable, 
for  it  has  never  been  done.  With  respect  to  its  practicability, 


316  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

I  should  like  to  ask  one  question :  Is  it  practicable  to  continue 
our  present  scheme  of  social  disorder  and  confusion  and  con- 
flict? Is  that  practicable,  and  again  is  it  practicable  to  expect 
a  more  ordered  and  a  more  harmonious  and  peaceful  type  of 
social  life  in  the  future  except  upon  the  foundation  and  sub- 
structure of  an  educational  system  which  has  been  framed  on 
a  large  scale  for  this  principal  purpose?  The  nations  of  the 
world  have  found  the  capital  and  resources,  the  money  by  the 
billion,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  social  values  and  standards 
of  these  countries  when  they  were  threatened  with  disintegra- 
tion by  an  enemy  from  without.  It  is  not  absurd  that  the  re- 
sources and  the  money  may  not  be  made  available  nationally 
for  a  positive  and  constructive  development,  and  ordering  all 
the  social  values  in  time  of  peace? 

The  nations  which  have  been  called  upon  to  make  the  sacri- 
fices of  billions  of  dollars  and  of  human  lives  will  not,  I  think, 
long  remain  content  without  demanding  the  expenditure  of 
public  funds  on  a  large  scale  for  making  a  more  secure  and  a 
more  satisfactory  basis  of  national  life.  What  is  needed  is  the 
will,  the  imagination  and  the  trained  intelligence  to  plan  that, 
to  execute  the  plan.  And  with  whatever  mistakes  or  blunders 
and  defects  there  have  been  in  our  preparation  in  the  last  four 
months,  I  think  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  it  is  possible 
to  organize  and  mobilize  the  intellectual  and  moral  resources 
of  the  nation  in  a  period  of  national  stress.  Certainly  we 
Americans  have  prided  ourselves  upon  being  an  inventive  peo- 
ple, an  adaptable  people,  a  people  that  easily  and  readily  meets 
new  emergencies  and  new  inventions.  Are  we  going  -to  fall 
down  when  it  comes  to  the  final  test  of  invention,  the  inven- 
tion of  social  methods  and  of  social  machinery?  Now  is  the 
time  to  begin  to  consider  this  question  and  now  is  the  time  to 
begin  the  planning  of  the  campaign  for  our  after-war  educa- 
tional activities.  Now  is  the  time  indeed  in  which  to  make  out 
our  detailed  plans  and  specifications  for  this  large  educational 
organization.  If  the  educators  will  take  upon  themselves  the 
primary  responsibility  for  settling  down  to  consummation  and 
elaboration  of  the  scheme,  I  am  sure  that  they  will  find  among 
the  men  in  sciences  and  the  men  in  art,  painting,  music,  and 
so  on,  among  statesmen  of  the  country  and  among  the  larger- 
visioned  captains  of  industry,  a  kind  of  cooperative  assistance 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  31 7 

which  will  enable  a  plan  to  be  worked  out  so  that  when  the 
days  of  demobilization  and  facing  the  post-war  problems  come, 
we  shall  not  be  caught  inert,  unprepared,  going  on  with  a  policy 
of  patching  up  and  of  muddling  through  till  some  other  social 
catastrophe,  if  possible  even  greater  than  the  present  one,  shall 
overwhelm  us. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  AWAKENING 

The  idea  that  training  to  work  is  a  very  essential  part  of 
public  school  education  has  had  a  hard  struggle  to  get  itself 
a  hearing.  "We  must  not  commercialize  the  schools,"  say  some. 
"My  children  will  never  have  to  work,"  say  others  whose  off- 
spring will  probably  squander  their  patrimony  and  have  to  work 
or  steal.  And  schoolmen  have  discovered  that  brain  work  and 
vocational  work  travel  faster  when  they  go  hand  in  hand. 
Moreover,  the  young  people  who  must  earn  their  living  can 
be  kept  at  their  books  longer  when  at  the  same  time  they  are 
preparing  for  their  future  occupations;  and  the  sons  of  the 
wealthy  will  have  a  saner  conception  of  what  it  means  to  be 
a  gentleman  and  will  often  be  preserved  in  the  ranks  of  honest 
men  if  they  know  how  to  earn  an  honest  dollar. 

The  first  duty  of  every  one  is  to  earn  his  own  living;  and 
he  who  can  not  or  will  not  do  this  is  a  parasite  upon  society. 
We  shall  some  day  agree  that  no  pupil,  male  or  female,  rich 
or  poor,  shall  be  graduated  until  he  has  earned  a  little  money. 
And  this,  in  the  interest  of  democracy,  self-respect,  and  eco- 
nomic independence.  Those  who  did  not  already  know  it  have 
learned  through  this  war  that  Germany  is  the  best  organized 
and  most  efficient  of  European  nations ;  which  is  because  each 
separate  individual  in  it  is  thoroughly  trained  for  usefulness. 

When  the  Kosminski  school  in  Chicago  was  opened,  people 
told  each  other  with  some  surprise,  that  cooking  and  sewing 
were  to  be  taught  in  that  building.  Now  the  school  in  which 
these  subjects  are  not  taught  is  the  exception.  Domestic  arts, 
manual  training,  evening  schools,  technical  schools,  part-time 
schools,  and  trade  schools,  have  come  into  our  educational  sys- 
tem and  have  come  to  stay.  Our  universities  now  include  in 

By   Clara   Kern   Bayliss.      Education.      38:380-4.     January,    1918. 


318  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

their  curriculi  such  subjects  as  ceramics,  agriculture,  library 
science,  civil  and  electrical  engineering,  and  domestic  science; 
and  to  men  and  women  engaged  in  business  they  give  short 
courses  in  banking,  marketing  and  credits,  business  law,  invest- 
ments, accounting,  and  salesmanship. 

The  Gary  schools  are  open  every  day  in  the  week  to  old  and 
young,  from  7  a.  m.  till  9  or  10  p.  m.,  and  instruction  is  given 
in  almost  every  conceivable  line,  from  children's  play  to  the 
serious  activities  of  adults.  At  the  Tuskegee  Institute  the  stu- 
dents study  and  work  on  alternate  days.  At  the  Cincinnati  Tech- 
nical College  they  get  theory  and  practice  on  alternate  weeks, 
one-half  of  them  going  each  week  into  the  shops,  factories,  and 
business  houses  of  the  city  for  practical  experience. 

So  general  is  the  educational  awakening  that  business  firms 
are  voluntarily  establishing  schools  for  their  employees;  like  the 
white  goods  factory  in  New  York  which  has  a  school  and  con- 
ducts graduations  within  its  walls  to  improve  the  efficiency  of 
its  workers;  or  like  the  telephone  company  of  Chicago  which, 
in  a  still  more  philanthropic  spirit,  has  established  a  school  for 
its  employees  so  that  when  they  become  too  old  for  their  pres- 
ent work  and  its  compensation,  they  may  not  be  too  ignorant 
for  other  employment. 

Perhaps  nowhere  else  in  the  United  States  is  the  remark- 
able change  in  educational  ideals  so  fully  revealed  as  in  the 
Gary  schools  and  in  the  varied  enterprises  of  the  Los  Angeles 
schools.  In  the  latter  the  vocational  inclinations  of  the  children 
are  observed  from  the  lowest  grade  by  means  of  what  is  termed 
"play  vocations."  Each  little  one  is  allowed  to  choose  a  callng 
and  cut  out  pictures  from  catalogs  and  advertising  matter  to 
make  an  automobile  scrap  book,  a  rancher  one,  a  dressmaker, 
an  engineer,  or  a  geographical  one.  All  through  the  grades  the 
tendency  of  each  one  is  noted  so  that  he  may  be  given  advice 
as  to  the  calling  for  which  to  fit  himself. 

In  the  grades  they  make  baskets,  trays,  stools,  cane  chairs, 
and  other  reed  furniture;  repair  books,  make  iceboxes,  tables, 
tool  chests,  work  benches,  fireless  cookers,  ironing  boards ;  make 
and  set  cement  posts;  lay  sidewalk;  and  cobble  shoes.  More 
than  five  hundred  pupils  remain  after  school  in  the  sloyd  rooms, 
and  hundreds  of  outsiders  come  in  the  evening  for  this  work. 
One  of  the  sloyd  teachers  visits  the  homes  of  the  pupils  and 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  319 

directs  their  attention  to  repairs  they  should  make  in  the  houses 
in  which  they  live. 

They  have  a  school  orchestra  of  one  thousand  members,  and 
three  teachers  who  give  full  time  to  it.  They  have  doctors, 
clinics,  a  day  nursery,  school  for  mutes,  school  for  defectives, 
vacation  schools,  evening  schools,  kindergarten  schools,  special 
drawing  school,  art  school;  schools  for  agriculture,  commerce, 
domestic  science,  marine  vocations,  technical  vocations.  They 
teach  management  of  "wireless"  apparatus,  mail  service,  depart- 
mental work  at  Washington,  illustrating  and  advertising,  dra- 
matic art;  home,  maternity,  and  emergency  nursing. 

In  large  cities  schools  are  seeing  the  need  of  helping  pupils 
to  get  started  in  business.  New  York  and  Chicago  teachers  are 
suggesting  that  school  boards  have  a  vocational  bureau  to  aid 
graduates  and  pupils  who  must  help  out  the  family  earnings, 
in  finding  employment.  The  Los  Angeles  schools  have  a  chart 
showing  the  pupils  the  chances  for  positions  and  the  wages  paid 
for  different  degrees  of  preparedness  in  each  of  the  following 
occupations :  Commercial  art,  hand  wrought  metal  work,  in- 
terior decorating,  leather  work,  pottery  work ;  general  farmer, 
specialty  farmer,  truck  gardener,  landscape  gardener,  nursery- 
man, dairy  farmer,  poultryman,  farm  mechanic ;  multigraph  oper- 
ator, adding  machine  operator,  filing  clerk,  billing  clerk,  office 
assistant,  office  manager,  accountant,  auditor,  bank  clerk,  book- 
keeper, cashier,  stenographer,  reporter,  private  secretary,  ship- 
ping clerk,  receiving  clerk,  business  manager,  postoffice  em- 
ployee, civil  service  employee,  commercial  teacher ;  caterer's  as- 
sistant, teacher,  housekeeper,  waitress,  dressmaker,  milliner, 
seamstress ;  boat  builder,  engineer,  merchant  marine,  naval  archi- 
tect; aquarium  attendant,  cataloguer,  chart  designer,  curator  of 
museums ;  fish  commissioner,  fish  expert,  fish  propagator ;  as- 
sayer,  blacksmith,  cabinet  maker,  chemist,  draftsman,  foundry- 
man;  electrical  station,  sub-station,  telephone  work,  electric  light 
work,  electrician,  machine  shop  work,  pattern  making,  and  sur- 
veying. 

Beside  all  this,  the  children  go  to  museums  to  study  the 
different  parts  of  animals ;  to  the  mountains  to  spend  a  day  with 
the  oaks  and  pines ;  to  fossil  beds  to  watch  the  excavation  of 
extinct  animals ;  and  to  the  seashore  to  study  marine  animals 
and  algae. 


320  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

We  have  "flowed"  a  long  way  since  the  time  when  elementary 
education  meant  the  three  Rs,  and  higher  education  meant  the 
classics.  Book-repairing,  cobbling,  and  boat  building  taught  in 
the  public  schools!  Pupils  going  off — 3,000  in  a  company— to 
spend  a  day  at  the  seashore!  Ye  gods!  How  the  old  time 
sticklers  for  strictly  a  literary  education  must  be  sitting  up  in 
their  graves  and  rubbing  their  startled  eyes  at  these  innovations! 

OPPORTUNITY  SCHOOL  AT  DENVER1 

The  Opportunity  School  at  Denver  is  said  to  be  an  insti- 
tution unique  in  the  United  States,  and  is  especially  interesting 
as  it  throws  overboard  all  the  formal  systems  which  go  to  make 
up  educational  practice  even  in  a  country  like  the  United  States, 
bold  as  it  is  in  educational  experiments. 

Briefly,  this  school  supplies  an  educational  refuge  for  all 
those  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  women  and  children  who 
are  not  catered  for  by  any  other  institution.  It  disregards,  in 
admitting  students,  age,  qualifications  and  even  set  hours  of 
the  day.  Boys  in  offices,  young  women  in  service,  blind  men, 
cowboys,  foreigners,  indeed  all  who  can  snatch  brief  periods 
of  time  from  their  ordinary  work  come  here  to  improve  their 
conditions  in  life.  The  writer  paid  two  visits  to  this  school, 
and  noticed  the  stream  of  men,  women,  and  children  pouring 
into  its  doors  at  all  hours  of  the  day.  Only  started  in  Sep- 
tember, 1916,  but  presided  over  by  a  woman  of  genius,  who  had 
already  shown  her  worth  in  other  educational  fields,  the  school 
has  attracted  an  astonishing  number  of  between  three  and  four 
thousand  students  since  its  inception.  The  city  authorities,  who, 
unhappily  for  Denver,  are  said  to  have  checked  local  educa- 
tional progress  in  other  quarters  through  political  bias,  seem 
to  have  agreed  in  recognizing  the  wonderful  success  of  this 
unique  institute  by  supporting  it  with  municipal  funds  raised  by 
taxation. 

The  Opportunity  School  certainly  opens  the  eyes  even  of 
the  formal  educationist,  who  is  accustomed  to  look  on  educa- 
tion as  a  thing  confined  to  youth.  It  emphasizes  the  immense 
gap  between  the  formal  education  of  the  past  (both  in  Eng- 

1  From  "America  at  School  and  at  Work."  p.  97-101.  By  Herbert 
Branston  Gray.  Nisbet  &  Co.,  London. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  321 

land  and  in  those  parts  of  the  United  States  which  have  in- 
herited English  traditions),  and  the  practical  training  for  life- 
work,  which  modern  vocational  instruction  attempts  to  bridge 
by  the  introduction  of  manual  training  schools,  trade  schools, 
corporation  schools  and  the  like. 

But  the  Opportunity  School  at  Denver  has  effected  an  even 
more  surprising  revolution.  It  has  visualized  the  limited  out- 
look of  all  previous  systems  as  regards  age,  educational  quali- 
fications, and  set  hours,  and  has  boldly  undertaken  to  fill  the 
gap.  Formal  systems,  on  whatever  basis  they  are  founded,  do 
not  profess  to  be  responsible  for  the  adult  citizen,  or  for  the 
waifs  and  strays  of  life.  The  Opportunity  School  on  the  other 
hand  recognizes  no  limit  in  its  educational  sympathies.  It  sets 
out  to  repair  all  educational  deficiencies,  which  parental  neglect, 
lack  of  opportunity,  the  failure  to  seize  previous  opportunities, 
have  left  in  the  life  of  the  citizen,  however  young,  or  however 
old.  It  helps  and  cures  the  educationally  lame,  blind,  halt  and 
maimed.  Thus  it  goes  further  than  foundations  like  the  Pratt 
Institute,  where  the  principal  aim  is  to  render  more  skillful 
and  efficient  the  workman  or  woman  already  engaged  in  settled 
occupations. 

But  this  school  not  only  supplies  instruction  of  all  sorts  for 
all  sorts  of  people ;  it  also  undertakes,  and  with  conspicuous  suc- 
cess, to  find  employment  for  its  transient  citizens.  It  is  in 
fact  a  placement  bureau,  and  is  sought  after  by  employers  of 
all  kinds. 

Concrete  cases  will  best  serve  to  illustrate  this  new  de- 
parture in  the  sphere  of  educational  experiment — cases  which 
actually  came  under  the  notice  of  the  writer.  It  will  be  seen 
that  they  embrace  a  remarkably  wide  range. 

i.  A  cowboy  aged  twenty-seven  began  to  attend  this  school. 
He  had  only  reached  the  fifth  grade  in  his  elementary  school 
as  a  boy.  He  is  now  taking  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth  grades, 
correlating  algebra,  geometry,  English,  history,  science.  He 
asks  his  teacher  to  take  walks  with  him  when  not  in  class, 
and  talk  to  him  about  subjects  he  ought  to  know. 

2.  A  boy  aged  sixteen,  employed  in  a  small  grocery  store 
at  $3.50  a  week,  has  increased  his  earning  capacity  to  $12.50 
after  attending  two  hours  a  day  for  a  month,  and  taking  arith- 
metic, English,  and  mechanical  drawing. 


322  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

3.  An  Austrian  girl,  knowing  nothing  but  her  native  tongue, 
has    taken  English,   and   has   now   secured  a  place  as   nurse  in 
the  county  hospital.     The  sewing  department  of  the  school  de- 
voted several   days   to  making  her  outfit. 

4.  Two  blind  men  have  attended  the  school  for  some  months, 
one   learning  salesmanship,   the   other  typewriting  and  the  dic- 
taphone. 

5.  There   is    a  class   for   defective   speech— students   in   this 
class  have  been  in  inferior  positions  on  account  of  this  defect, 
and  have  rapidly  secured  better  situations. 

6.  A    large    number    of    men    and    women    attend    evening 
classes   in   one   or  more    special   subjects   in   order  to   be   more 
efficient  the  next  day. 

7.  Many  entirely  uneducated  older  people  obtained  the  rudi- 
ments of  an  education  in  the  school  bit  by  bit. 

8.  The   citizenship   class  composed  of  aliens  numbers   four 
hundred  and  fifty  pupils  of  all  ages,  and  its  members  are  trained 
to  become  real  American  citizens. 

Free  evening  meals  are  provided  for  boys  who  work  all 
day  for  small  wages  and  live  a  long  distance  from  the  school 
which  they  attend  in  the  evening.  This  help  enables  them  to 
come  directly  from  work  to  the  school  without  losing  time. 

There  is  a  close  correlation,  as  will  be  seen,  of  school  work 
with  everyday  life.  Students  "function"  their  school  knowl- 
edge through  its  school  store — its  automobile  shop,  its  adding 
machine,  its  typewriters,  its  cash  registers — and  in  the  school. 
For  example,  in  the  school  store  the  pupil  dictates  to  the  stenog- 
rapher who  comes  from  the  commercial  department.  These 
letters  are  criticised  in  the  boys  English  class.  Again  the  auto- 
mobile school  prepares  the  student  on  certain  days  for  prac- 
tical work  in  his  .automobile  shop  where  he  is  working,  by  giv- 
ing him  an  engineering  and  mathematical  course. 

The  following  classes  have  been  organized  and  others  are 
being  formed  when  demanded :  cooking,  sewing,  millinery,  hair- 
dressing,  automobile  repairing,  electricity,  bookkeeping,  type- 
writing, shorthand,  salesmanship,  dentistry,  mechanical  draw- 
ing, woodwork,  shop  arithmetic,  etc. 

There  are  of  course  no  school  fees.  The  school  is  built  on 
the  principle,  "If  you  don't  see  what  you  want,  ask  for  it." 
it  is  re-educational  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word,  and  if  the 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  323 

old   or   the    young   has   missed    life's   previous   opportunities   it 
gives  him  the  chance  of  a  new  start. 

THEORETICAL  GARY1 

Gary  frankly  accepts  the  machine  as  the  basis  of  modern 
life,  and  it  is  with  the  child  from  his  earliest  years.  Bourne 
describes  a  physics  class  of  twelve  twelve-year-old  girls  and 
their  nine-year-old  helpers,  studying  the  motor-cycle.  The  in- 
structor began  with  a  spelling  lesson  on  the  parts  and  processes, 
then  explained  the  mechanism  and  physical  principles  involved, 
finally  starting  the  motor-cycle,  while  the  girls  described  its 
action.  "The  intense  animation  of  that  little  group  was  all  the 
more  piquant  for  having  as  a  background  the  astounded  dis- 
approbation of  three  grave  school  superintendents  from  the 
East."  Taylor  saw  a  class  working  on  ventilation  data ;  the 
upper  grades,  also,  are  able  to  enter  a  house  and  plan  a  com- 
plete heating  system.  The  physics  laboratories  are  elaborately 
equipped,  with  three  large  rooms  in  Emerson,  plus  the  light- 
ing and  power  plant. 

Chemistry  is  related  to  industry,  the  home,  the  school  lunch 
room.  Graduates  of  the  laboratory  are  able  at  once  to  earn  $80 
a  month  in  the  research  laboratories  of  the  Steel  Corporation. 
Coons  cites  the  erection  of  a  crucible  by  the  boys  to  reduce  a 
sample  of  bog  iron  brought  in  by  a  curious  boy,  as  a  starting 
point  for  the  steel  and  iron  industries  of  Gary.  Taylor  in- 
stances a  class  on  the  basis  of  whose  analysis  of  coal  for  the 
schools,  payment  was  made.  The  Emerson  Laboratory  is  sim- 
ply an  extension  of  the  municipal  chemist's  laboratory.  Older 
children  act  as  his  assistants  testing  city  water  and  milk  sup- 
plies ;  his  children  are  practically  deputy  food  inspectors,  visiting 
dairies,  bakeries  and  food-shops.  Bourne  found  another  class 
experimenting  with  soft  drinks,  studying  questions  of  solution, 
suspension  and  crystallization.  The  bacteriology  laboratory  is 
equipped  for  testing  food  products  and  contagious  diseases; 
while  the  school  physician  has  his  own  laboratory,  and  students 
are  assigned  to  work  with  him.  Through  auditorium,  chem- 
istry and  physiology,  he  explains  the  laws  of  health.  When  a 
classmate  is  sick,  the  children  see  that  quarantine  is  enforced. 

1  From  article  by  William  L.  Dealey.  Pedagogical  Seminary.  23:269- 
82.  June,  1916. 


324  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

In  the  arts,  Taylor  describes  a  studio  for  orchestra,  piano, 
correlated  vocal  work,  and  special  library.  Instrumental  music 
is  part  of  the  curricula  for  six  per  cent.,  forming  nine  school 
orchestras,  inclusive  of  evening  schools.  The  art  work  in- 
cludes jewelry  design,  pottery  design,  drawing  applied  to  the 
shops  and  laboratories;  in  one  studio,  children  were  decorating 
the  walls. 

Probably  the  most  successful  solution  of  the  practical  arts 
course  is  the  Gary  vocational  guidance  plan.  This  extension  of 
the  manual  training  system  to  Burris  is  the  "best  yet  devised." 
Gary  places  practical  instruction,  Snedden  adds,  on  a  much  more 
satisfactory  basis  "than  anything  heretofore  existing  outside  of 
individual  schools."  Every  bit  of  practical  work  for  the  en- 
tire school  plant  is  made  an  educational  opportunity,  providing 
prevocational  industrial  and  commercial  experiences  at  small 
cost.  The  school  thereby  organizes  itself  as  a  community  of 
children  varied  in  its  work. 

The  basis  is  laid  in  the  elementary  school.  The  first  three 
grades  devote  an  hour  daily  to  simple  hand-work,  learning  to 
handle  materials  much  as  primitive  people  used  them.  Fourth 
and  fifth  grade  children  assist  the  older  in  shops  and  drawing 
rooms.  The  junior  high  school  organization  here  extends  to 
the  sixth  grade,  where  actual  work  is  begun,  as  responsible  ap- 
prentices in  some  shop,  utilizing  the  earlier  experiences  to  defi- 
nite ends.  These  small  shop  classes  resemble  individual  instrw> 
tion,  thus  emphasizing  the  guiding  element.  The  Gary  pupil 
may  change  his  shop  every  five  weeks;  he  must  change  at  least 
twice  a  year.  As  a  responsible  worker,  rotating  through  three 
shop  courses  a  year,  living  for  two  hours  a  day  in  the  rudiments 
of  many  occupations,  he  tests  his  abilities.  On  leaving  'he  has 
definite  attitudes,  encouraged  by  instruction  in  the  possibilities 
of  various  trades.  Gary  averages  nearly  three  hours  such  train- 
ing per  day  for  each  boy  fourteen  years  or  over.  These  schools 
are  now  working  toward  an  advanced  part-time  system.  By  re- 
quiring attendance  upon  any  three  of  the  four  quarters  in  an 
all  school  year,  the  vacation  workers  may  be  distributed  evenly 
through  the  year.  This  would  add  a  school  quarter  of  practical 
work,  and  continuously  utilize  the  shops  and  industries  of  Gary 
as  real-life  laboratories,  at  no  increased  expenditure. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  325 

Under  such  conditions,  says  Bourne,  manual  training  as- 
sumes new  meaning,  interested  groups  cooperating  as  in  a  well- 
ordered  factory.  In  the  carpentry  shop  Taylor  found  youngsters 
so  small  they  could  scarcely  see  the  top  of  the  work  bench 
making  things  either  practical  or  of  play  utility.  Boys  making 
desks  or  tables  or  cabinets  for  the  botany  collections,  or  book- 
racks  for  the  library,  send  them  on  to  the  paint-shop  when 
finished.  Only  boys  of  sixteen  are  allowed  in  the  cabinet  shop. 
The  children  turn  their  own  baseball  bats  as  well  as  shop  pat- 
terns. In  the  turning  room,  Taylor  saw  a  thirteen-year-old 
eighth  grade  pupil  turning  a  laboratory  stool,  its  base  cast  in 
the  school  foundry.  In  the  blacksmith  shop,  a  fifth  grade  boy 
was  mending  his  roller  skates ;  while  all  forged  iron  work  in 
the  elaborate  playground  equipment  is  made  here.  The  Ameri- 
can Bridge  Company  manufactured  the  charging  platforms  for 
the  foundry  from  specifications  drawn  in  the  drafting  room. 
The  Emerson  machine  shop  for  children  above  the  seventh  grade 
has  some  $8,000  worth  of  equipment.  Bourne  found  boys  in 
the  sheet-metal  shop  hammering  zinc  for  the  roof ;  they  manu- 
facture the  school  utensils.  Young  electricians  were  repairing. 
Several  of  the  plumbing  shops  possess  extensive  equipment. 
The  shoeless  condition  of  some  of  the  Froebel  children  has 
led  to  a  cobbling  shop.  The  printing  shop  is  as  well  equipped 
as  a  commercial  printer,  teaches  the  whole  art  of  printing  and 
bookbinding,  and  does  all  the  school  work. 

Many  of  the  girls  in  the  advanced  grades  not  only  study 
home-making,  but  are  in  millinery  or  arts  and  crafts  or  print- 
ing, others  in  the  school  store  and  school  bank,  both  actual  busi- 
ness departments.  The  Emerson  school  office,  for  example,  does 
all  the  school  accounting,  sufficient  to  keep  some  ten  pupils  busy 
daily,  and  gives  pre-commercial  experiences  to  about  120.  The 
storerooms  are  included,  so  that  the  accurate  records  of  sup- 
plies and  costs  are  kept.  This  work  includes  stenography,  type- 
writing and  business  methods.  These  girls  also  have  a  sewing 
room,  in  which  to  make  their  own  clothes.  Another  excellent 
illustration  is  the  school  lunchroom  of  the  cooking  department, 
serving  real  lunches  to  students  who  pay  a  student  cashier. 
The  girls  do  all  the  planning,  buying  and  accounting.  They 
post  daily  menus,  with  prices  and  food  values,  based  on  chem- 
ical laboratory  analyses. 


326  SELECTED   ARTICLES 


POINT  OF  VIEW  * 

The  opportunities  for  vocational  exploration  and  guidance 
during  the  school  years  represented  by  the  junior  high  school 
are  so  wonderful  that  it  seems  a  pity  to  think  of  manual  train- 
ing and  household  arts  in  terms  of  two  periods  a  week  and 
involving  only  woodwork,  cooking  and  sewing. 

It  seems  to  me,  in  the  first  place,  that  over  the  door  of  the 
manual  and  other  arts  departments  of  a  junior  high  school  there 
should  be  the  words  "Dedicated  to  the  Spirit  of  Adolescent 
Youth."  Beyond  the  door  we  expect  to  find  a  teacher  of  the 
Boy  Scout  leader  type.  When  we  see  the  room,  or  rooms,  we 
discover  a  corner  for  automobiles,  another  for  printing,  another 
for  concrete  work  and  a  dozen  other  corners  for  wireless,  air- 
planes, telegraphy,  telephony,  electricity,  farm  projects,  simple 
sheet-metal  work,  elements  of  pattern  making  and  molding  and 
so  on. 

The  teacher  does  not  think  in  terms  of  a  tool  exercise  and 
then  hunt  around  the  universe  for  a  project  on  which  to  fasten 
it.  He  reverses  the  process  by  bringing  into  the  school-room 
some  project  dealing  with  boy  life  and  then  weaves  in  the 
necessary  knowledge  and  skill  to  develop  the  project.  The 
adolescent  mind  is  a  project  thinking  mind;  it  is  an  exploring 
mind;  it  is  a  mind  full  of  enthusiasm  and  initiative;  it  is  a 
mind  that  wants  to  see  something  go.  That  is  why  it  likes 
automobile  work,  wireless,  airplanes  and  bell-ringing  electricity. 

Only  recently  I  saw  such  a  room,  such  a  teacher  and  such 
boys.  He  was  a  Boy  Scout  leader  on  Saturdays  and  on  school 
days  he  was  a  manual  training  teacher.  He  could  tinker  with 
anything  and  make  it  go,  including  a  boy's  mind,  or  perhaps  I 
ought  to  say,  that  the  boys  could  tinker  with  his  mind  and 
make  it  work  in  accordance  with  their  adolescent  desires.  At 
one  time  he  had  twenty-four  manual  training  benches  with 
twenty-four  sets  of  tools,  twenty-four  boys  and  twenty-four 
models  for  the  twenty-four  hours  of  a  shop  term.  Now  he  has 
eight  woodworking  benches,  one  for  sheet  metal,  an  electrical 
bench,  a  bench  for  pipe  cutting  and  fitting,  an  enclosed  corner 
for  a  printing  press,  a  tool  room  with  a  boy  in  charge  of  the 

*By  Arthur  Dean,   Manual  Training.     21:316-18.     May,    1920. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  327 

special  tools,  used  for  many  activities,  and  a  lot  of  catalogues, 
blueprints,  magazine  articles  and  books  relating  to  the  mechan- 
ical delights  of  boys,  and  finally,  best  of  all,  a  crowd  of  boys 
around  him  who  are  as  enthusiastic  for  five  days,  in  a  base- 
ment schoolroom  as  they  are  on  Saturdays  with  him  in  the 
woods  around  a  campfire  and  eating  baked  but  burned  potatoes. 

In  another  school  I  saw  boys  and  girls  in  the  commercial 
department  were  assigned  in  turn  at  the  school  telephone  ex- 
change, at  the  paying  and  receiving  teller's  desks,  as  guides  for 
school  visitors,  as  managers  of  the  lunch  room,  etc.  They  were 
handling  the  school  reports,  taking  care  of  the  school  grounds, 
planting  bushes  and  flowers,  acting  as  a  sanitary  corps  for  the 
hygienic  upkeep  of  the  building,  serving  as  first  aiders  in  time 
of  accident  or  sickness,  and  so  on.  The  boys  and  girls  on  the 
editorial  board  of  the  school  paper,  had  special  English  instruc- 
tion two  hours  every  day,  which  related  to  their  editorial  work. 
They  were  devising  headlines  for  submitted  articles,  shortening 
articles  which  were  too  long,  and  lengthening  articles  which 
were  too  short.  They  were  reading  proof,  collecting  advertise- 
ments, taking  care  of  the  subscription  list,  printing  the  paper, 
and  so  on.  Furthermore,  they  were  connecting  their  civics  with 
school  government  in  a  sort  of  joint  council  idea  between 
teachers  and  pupils. 

All  the  "arts"  activities  of  these  schools  focused  around  vo- 
cational guidance  and  vocational  selection  and  aroused  interests 
in  further  education.  They  brought  activity  outside  of  school 
into  activity  within  the  school.  The  activity  within  the  school 
functioned  with  activity  without  the  school.  The  spirit  of  the 
teaching  thruout  was  the  spirit  of  the  Boy  Scout  movement. 

NEGLECTED     OPPORTUNITIES     IN     ELEMEN- 
TARY SCHOOLS  1 

There  is  another  phase  of  bur  educational  symphony  which 
is  as  important  as  our  great  leit  motif,  that  is  the  ideal  of  social 
service,  a  motif  second  only  in  phraseology.  So  far  we  have 
accentuated  but  little  the  altruistic  phases  of  education.  We 
have  built  up  a  system  which  is  as  care-free,  as  selfish,  as  pos- 

1  From  article  by  H.  W.  Schmidt.  Educational  Review.  59:304-14. 
April,  1920. 


328  SELECTED    ARTICLES 

sible,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  child— that  we  should  ask, 
nay  demand,  a  return  for  service  rendered,  that  the  state  has 
a  right  to  expect  it,  has  never  been  made  much  of  a  point  and, 
I  fear,  has  been  sadly  neglected.  The  war  has  brought  this 
phase  of  the  matter  to  the  fore  as  no  other  cause  could  have 
and  the  time  is  ripe  that  we  instil  in  the  minds  of  our  youth 
the  idea  that  participation  in  the  benefits  of  our  public  insti- 
tutions of  necessity  entails  on  their  part  a  social  service,  com- 
mensurate in  a  measure  with  such  benefits — that  the  state  ex- 
pects it  and  that  such  service  to  our  fellows  is  a  part  of  our 
life's  work.  Is  it  not  true  that  satisfaction  in  life,  happiness 
and  all  are  directly  measurable  in  terms  of  the  satisfaction  de- 
rived from  the  feeling  that  one  has  done  something  worth 
while  in  this  world,  that  he  has  contributed  something  to  the 
welfare  and  progress  of  society  and  has  been  of  real  service  to 
his  fellows?  Children  are  very  susceptible  to  this  argument 
if  the  matter  is  put  up  to  them  thru  the  right  kind  of  training. 
They  certainly  react  in  the  measure  that  this  vital  social  fact 
is  brought  before  them. 

Possibly  the  various  forms  of  handwork  which  we  have 
in  our  schools  lend  themselves  most  readily  to  the  thought  I 
have  in  mind,  and  I  will  use  them  freely  as  examples.  We 
have  primary  handwork,  intermediate  handwork,  manual  train- 
ing, domestic  science  and  art,  but  I  believe  they  are  not  serving 
us  to  the  extent  that  they  should,  that  we  have  not  utilized  them 
as  means  for  attaining  serviceable,  social  ends.  Under  the  above 
main  headings  we  have  varied  activities  such  as  paper  and  card- 
board work,  weaving  and  work  in  textiles,  raphia  work,  clay 
modeling,  woodwork,  cooking,  sewing,  printing,  etc.  They  too 
often  serve  as  ends  in  themselves,  not  as  means  to  an  end 
which  possesses  real  social  significance  in  the  broader  sense. 
Can  these  not  be  utilized  more  fully  in  the  desirable  direction? 

In  our  work  in  paper  and  cardboard  there  are  opportuni- 
ties to  drive  home  vocational  and  social  facts,  facts  of  an  in- 
tensely interesting  character,  such  as :  paper  making,  wood  pulp, 
sulphite,  rag  and  wood  papers,  linen  ledgers,  bonds,  news,  water 
marks,  plain  and  laid  flats,  colored  flats,  covers,  plate  papers, 
cardboards,  jute  and  rope  manila,  cloth  and  binder's  boards, 
bristols,  enameled  and  ply  boards,  weighted  and  calendered 
papers.  Folio,  demy,  cap,  etc.,  sizes.  Why  is  writing  paper 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  329 

cut  certain  sizes?  What  is  meant  by  quarto,  duo  decimo?  Why 
is  most  of  our  examination  paper  cut  8^"  x  11"?  How  is  paper 
made  and  tested?  Why  is  it  that  paper  has  a  grain?  How  is 
hand-made  paper  made?  These  are  all  facts  which  can  be 
demonstrated  to  fifth-grade  children.  You  can  test  paper— they 
can.  You  can  show  dozens  of  kinds  of  papers  by  means  of 
samples  obtained  most  anywhere  and  at  all  times.  Opportunities 
for  arithmetic  in  cutting  and  laying  out  paper  for  book  work 
are  unlimited  and  represent  actualities.  Why  has  paper  risen 
so  in  price;  is  wood  pulp  imported  free;  what  does  it  cost  a 
newspaper  for  print  paper ;  are  you  getting  real  value  when 
buying  paper?  These  are  some  of  the  hundreds  of  questions 
which  are  open  for  discussion  in  this  one  subject  alone. 

How  about  the  work  in  weaving  and  sewing  and  textiles? 
Do  you  boys  and  girls  know  how  ordinary  cloth  is  made?  How 
cotton  and  linen  goods  are  woven?  Do  they  know  what  a 
Jacquard  machine  is?  Do  they  know  that  the  warp  and  woof 
of  their  little  looms  are  relatively  the  same  as  those  of  the 
finest  linen  and  silk  goods?  Do  they  know  that  an  endless 
variety  of  textures  may  be  produced  by  combinations  of  over- 
and  underweaving?  Have  they  tried  this  on  their  little  looms? 
Can  they  recognize  woolens,  cottons  and  linens  and  test  them? 
Do  they  know  that  the  strength  of  the  goods  is  in  a  great  meas- 
ure determined  by  the  strength  of  the  warp?  Have  your  chil- 
dren ever  had  the  opportunity  to  dissect  various  weaves  in  the 
schoolroom,  analyze  them  and  reproduce  them  on  their  looms? 
Do  they  know  how  moires  and  changeable  silks  are  produced? 
How  printed  goods  are  made?  Why  some  ginghams  are  more 
expensive  than  others?  How  the  various  raw  materials  are  con- 
verted into  the  thread  used  on  the  looms?  Have  they  learned 
all  about  the  silk  worm  industry?  What  the  difference  is  be- 
tween Brussels,  Wiltons  and  ingrain  carpets?  How  oriental 
rugs  are  woven  and  the  influence  of  the  rug  industry  on  the 
peoples  of  the  East?  Why  are  orientals  so  expensive  and  why 
can  we  not  reproduce  them? 

Are  your  girls  using  a  sewing  machine  or  do  they  have  to 
wait  until  they  get  into  the  high  school  before  they  are  officially 
made  acquainted  with  them?  I  will  wager  they  use  one  at 
home — why  not  in  school?  Boys  do  not  take  kindly  to  cooking 
or  sewing  as  a  rule.  Have  you  tried  camp  cooking  or  emer- 


330  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

gency  sewing?  They  take  to  these.  Have  your  boys  made  a 
real  loom  large  enough  for  a  good-sized  rag  rug?  Maybe  you 
have  neglected  a  splendid  opportunity  for  socializing  content. 

Have  you  clay  modeling  in  your  school?  You  make  sculp- 
tures in  clay,  tiles  and  placques,  candlesticks  and  bowls — you 
are  instiling  first  principles  of  art,  and  that  is  good  and  well. 
But  do  your  children  know  how  bricks  are  made,  how  the  vari- 
ous kinds  are  produced?  What  is  the  difference  between  com- 
mon and  pressed  or  wire-cut  brick?  Why  the  old  brick  yard 
is  a  thing  of  the  past?  How  bricks  were  made  of  old  and 
why  we  now  make  bricks  without  straw?  The  history  of  the 
potter's  craft  and  the  making  of  bricks  have  within  them  the 
elements  of  historical  pathos.  Have  your  boys  made  a  simple 
potter's  wheel  and  have  you  made  real  pottery?  What  dis- 
tinguishes good  from  poor  ware  and  where  are  the  finer  wares 
made?  Why  can  we  not  make  them  here  in  our  country? 
What  is  Satsuma,  Dresden  and  Haviland  ware?  What  is  there 
about  Japanese  pottery  that  excels?  Shall  I  continue? 

How  about  basketry  and  raphia  work?  Dare  I  ask  what  reed 
is  or  cane,  or  splints?  How  are  baskets  made  commercially? 
Not  a  far  step  to  the  Indian,  Alaskan,  Chilean,  Oriental  or  Afri- 
can basket.  Their  manufacture  is  tied  up  with  the  history  of 
the  nations  and  reflects  the  traits  of  the  races.  Possibly  we 
could  drag  in  history  and  geography. 

Let  us  look  at  manual  training  in  the  light  of  the  fore- 
going. I  believe  we  have  sinned  more  under  the  guise  of  man- 
ual training  than  years  of  penitence  will  make  up  for — it  is  not 
even  training  of  the  mind  thru  the  hand.  Ye  shades  of 
Otto  Salomon!  Frankly  it  is  nearly  always  busy  work  so  far 
as  real  ends  are  concerned  and  the  use  of  the  subject  towards 
real  social  ends  is  sadly  neglected.  The  benefits  are  circum- 
spectional  not  directed,  and  in  but  few  cases  is  a  real  end 
sought  after. 

But  what  exceptional  opportunities  are  thus  lost !  Here  is 
our  opportunity  for  doing  real  directed  work  having  a  tre- 
mendous socializing  value,  the  desired  characteristics  of  voca- 
tionalism  and  one  which  may  be  utilized  to  that  end  freely 
and  with  the  hearty  cooperation  of  the  pupils.  Why  have  we 
not  seized  the  opportunity  sooner?  Possibly  because  the  call 
has  not  been  heard  until  of  late  and  possibly  because  the  work 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  331 

was  still  steeped  in  its  traditional  aspects  and  possibly  also  be- 
cause its  teachers  did  not  fully  realize  its  scope  on  the  side 
of  practicality  and  real  social  significance.  We  know  the  aver- 
age teacher  considers  himself  slightly  above  the  vocational  as- 
pects of  the  work  and  likes  to  lean  more  on  the  side  of  educa- 
tion, pedagogical  values,  psychological  significance,  and  other 
stock  stuff,  while  the  man  of  work  looks  down  with  supreme 
contempt  upon  the  work  done  in  the  school.  Leaving  the  prac- 
tical man  out  of  the  discussion,  why  should  the  manual  train- 
ing teacher  be  impractical,  teach  for  teaching's  sake  and  seek 
no  particular  end  which  will  stand  the  test  of  society  at  large? 
I  do  not  advocate  a  commercial  standard  of  production  for  the 
school  shops,  but  I  do  believe  that  there  should  be  laid  the 
foundation  for  subsequent  work  of  a  more  finished  character. 
I  would  consider  the  training  preeminently  socializing,  pre-vo- 
cational. 


ELEMENTS  OF  PRACTICAL  ARTS  FOR 
GENERAL  EDUCATION  1 

In  Teachers  College  our  organization  of  practical  arts  grew 
out  of  our  very  liberal  conception  of  technical  education,  and 
so  to  us  "practical  arts"  have  come  to  include  all  the  educa- 
tional subjects  that  are  based  on  a  technique  or  special  method 
of  doing  things.  Hence,  in  this  wide  sense,  practical  arts — 
which  would  have  been  better  understood  if  christened  "tech- 
nical arts" — include  fine  arts,  household  arts,  industrial  arts 
(both  agricultural  and  mechanical),  music,  nursing,  applied  hy- 
giene, and  physical  education.  These  may  or  may  not  be  "prac- 
tical" or  "applied."  For  example,  drawing  may  be  "practical" 
if  applied  to  house  decoration  or  machine  design,  but  if  not 
applied,  it  is  no  more  practical  (in  the  usual  material  sense) 
than  history,  literature,  or  pure  science. 

I  realize  that  some  misunderstanding  has  arisen  from  the 
common  use  of  the  word  "practical."  It  seems  to  me  that  it 
is  a  mistake  to  understand  technical  arts  as  practical  or  useful 
only  because  they  commonly  have  a  close  relation  to  the  physical 

1  By  Maurice  A.  Bigelow,  Director  of  School  of  Practical  Arts,  Teach- 
ers College.  Teachers  College  Record.  17:1-6.  January,  1916. 


332  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

or  material  affairs  of  everyday  life,  or  because  they  may  be 
used  vocationally  as  a  means  of  getting  a  living.  I  prefer  rather 
to  take  Huxley's  broader  view  of  "practical"  and  regard  knowl- 
edge of  every  kind  as  useful  in  proportion  as  it  tends  to  affect 
our  daily  lives.  Looking  at  practical  arts  from  this  standpoint, 
I  am  forced  to  regard  an  understanding  of  the  elements  of 
the  technical  arts  as  an  essential  part  of  the  "practical"  educa- 
tion of  men  and  women,  and  with  or  without  regard  to  pos- 
sible physical  or  vocational  use  of  the  technical  knowledge. 

Practical  arts  education  should  be  regarded  as  closely  identi- 
fied with  vocational  education  only  when  technical  efficiency  is 
emphasized.  Those  who  look  at  the  practical  arts  with  the 
narrowest  vision  see  its  values  merely  in  terms  of  possible 
vocational  application.  This,  I  believe,  is  an  unfortunately  nar- 
row outlook.  The  elements  of  practical  arts  may  be  made  very 
important  as  a  phase  of  general  education  that  is  not  directed 
towards  vocational  ends.  Perhaps  I  can  make  this  point  clearer 
by  some  illustrations :  Music  and  fine  arts  deserve  to  be  part  of 
general  education  because  they  may  be  of  great  significance,  or 
"practical"  in  the  larger  sense,  to  many  who  do  not  apply  them 
vocationally.  Many  of  the  elementary  ideas  of  household  arts, 
such  as  the  economics  of  food  supply,  the  principles  of  cook- 
ery, the  main  facts  of  nutrition,  home  sanitation,  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  house  decoration,  should  be  part  of  the  practical  edu- 
cation of  all  boys;  but  certainly  few  boys  will  find  their  voca- 
tions in  the  field  of  household  arts.  Similarly,  certain  elementary 
knowledge  of  industrial  arts  (including  elementary  agriculture) 
should  be  taught  to  girls  without  reference  to  vocational  appli- 
cation. These  are  illustrations  of  how  the  elements  of  practi- 
cal arts  may  be  fitted  into  our  daily  lives  in  numerous  useful, 
but  non-vocational,  ways. 

The  above  suggestions  as  to  the  desirability  of  similar  ele- 
mentary training  in  the  practical  arts  for  both  sexes  leads  me 
to  the  problem  of  differentiation  for  boys  and  girls.  In  these 
days  we  hear  much  discussion  of  sex  differentiated  education, 
and  it  usually  refers  to  the  field  of  practical  arts.  We  do  not 
hear  any  serious  educators  advocating  one  kind  of  selection  of 
literature  or  history  or  mathematics  for  girls  and  another  for 
boys;  but  we  hear  many  proclaiming  that  household  arts  is  the 
proper  study  for  girls,  and  that  simultaneously  the  boys  should 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  333 

study  mechanical  or  agricultural  arts.  Some  well-known  edu- 
cators have  gone  so  far  as  to  declare  that  co-education  is  a 
mistake  in  so  far  as  it  means  similar  education  for  the  two 
sexes;  and  by  "similar  education"  they  mean  the  old-line  edu- 
cation without  practical  arts. 

Now,  we  must  admit  that  the  advanced  technical  aspects  of 
household,  industrial,  mechanical,  or  agricultural  arts  are  not  of 
equal  interest  to  both  sexes ;  and,  hence,  practical  arts  educa- 
tion in  its  specialized  forms  must  be  dissimilar.  But  note  that 
this  refers  to  the  advanced  technical  or  special  work  and  not 
to  the  elementary  study  of  the  leading  facts  and  principles  of 
practical  arts.  With  regard  to  these,  I  insist  that  there  should 
be  no  differentiation  on  sex  lines,  and  I  feel  sure  that  we  have 
already  gone  too  far  in  drawing  the  line  between  the  elementary 
practical  arts  for  the  two  sexes.  Let  me  illustrate:  In  many 
schools  of  the  United  States  we  find  household  arts  specified 
for  girls  in  elementary  grades  and  in  the  early  years  of  the 
high  school,  while  parallel  work  in  agriculture  or  industrial  arts 
is  assigned  to  the  boys.  The  result  is  that  some  of  the  most 
useful  applied  science  is  sex-limited.  Elementary  lessons  in 
household  arts  contain  important  facts  and  ideas  concerning 
food  economics,  principles  of  nutrition,  applied  chemistry  and 
physics,  bacteriology,  sanitation,  first  principles  of  cookery- 
all  of  which  should  be  a  part  of  the  practical,  but  not  technical, 
education  of  both  and  boys  and  girls.  It  is  not  fair  to  the 
boys  that  such  a  train  of  useful  scientific  applications  should 
be  reserved  for  the  girls  under  a  system  of  sex-limited  in- 
struction in  household  arts.  On  the  other  hand,  the  agricultural 
or  industrial  arts  assigned  to  the  boys  deal,  in  the  elementary 
instruction,  with  many  facts  that  should  not  be  monopolized 
knowledge  of  the  male  sex.  Industrial  arts  deal  with  the 
world's  work  and  modern  women  should  have  cultural,  if  not 
technical,  knowledge  of  the  great  industrial  relations  and  prob- 
lems. Therefore,  I  advocate  that  girls  should  have  elementary 
shopwork  instruction,  especially  since  so  much  of  it  applies  to 
the  home  and  at  the  same  time  will  help  women  to  understand 
industrial  life;  and  they  should  have  at  least  one  year  of  ele- 
mentary agriculture  in  every  school  which  offers  it  for  the  boys. 

These  illustrations  will  make  clear  my  meaning  when  I  de- 
clare that  we  have  already  made  some  serious  mistakes  in  dif- 


334  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

ferentiating  certain  aspects  of  elementary  practical  arts  along 
sex  lines.  This  extreme  differentiation  seems  to  have  had  its 
origin  in  the  names  and  definitions  given  to  household  and  in- 
dustrial arts.  Some  committee  declared  years  ago  that  house- 
work is  not  an  industry  and  that  industrial  arts  are  primarily 
of  interest  to  males'.  Having  thus  set  off  household  arts  ex- 
clusively for  women  and  industrial  arts  largely  for  men,  the 
courses  of  study  in  our  schools  have  been  developed  without 
regard  to  the  fact  that  in  the  elementary  facts  and  ideas  of 
each  of  these  practical  arts  there  is  much  of  value  and  interest 
to  both  sexes. 

Now,  as  the  solution  of  this  problem,  which  I  believe  is  the 
most  important  one  which  now  affects  practical  arts  for  public 
schools,  especially  in  years  below  the  second  of  high  school : 
Evidently  we  can  not  solve  it  by  advising  household  arts  for 
boys  or  industrial  shopwork  for  girls.  Boys  will  not  elect 
courses  called  household  arts,  or  domestic  science,  or  home 
economics.  A  few  girls  will  elect,  under  favorable  conditions, 
agriculture  or  mechanical  arts.  The  result  is  sex-differentiated 
practical  arts.  It  cannot  be  otherwise  under  the  names  "house- 
hold" and  "industrial."  I  have  come  to  believe  that  we  must 
offer  the  elementary  practical  arts  of  interest  to  both  sexes 
under  new  names,  and  not  apply  such  names  as  industrial  arts, 
household  arts,  or  agriculture,  until  advanced  technical  differ- 
entiation between  the  two  sexes  is  natural  and  useful.  In  my 
opinion,  a  very  limited  amount  of  such  specialized  study  is 
needed  in  elementary  schools. 

There  are  two  possible  arrangements  looking  towards  this 
end:  (i)  Teach  the  elements  of  practical  arts  equally  to  chil- 
dren of  both  sexes  in  elementary  schools;  and  call  such  study 
"practical  arts,"  not  household  or  industrial  arts.  (2)  Involve 
the  elements  of  practical  arts  in  the  other  subjects  which  are 
fundamentals  for  practical  arts.  This  means  fine  arts  and  the 
natural  sciences  (including  nature-study  and  elementary  science). 

I  prefer  the  second  suggestion  for  the  beginning  because  it 
seems  to  me  most  natural  and  economical.  However,  the 
teacher  must  work  from  the  practical  arts  point  of  view,  and 
so  it  little  matters  whether  the  desirable  studies  be  presented 
as  elementary  practical  arts  or  as  applications  of  elementary 
sciences  and  fine  arts. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  335 

By  teaching  the  elements  of  practical  arts  in  connection  with 
the  fundamental  subjects,  I  mean  that  beginning  with  the  earliest 
nature-study  and  art  work  the  practical  bearings  should  be  de- 
veloped. For  example,  the  art  lessons  of  the  elementary  schools 
might  be  arranged  so  as  to  give  both  boys  and  girls  the  essen- 
tial knowledge  of  the  household  arts  applications  in  home  fur- 
nishings and  decoration  and  costume  design.  Of  course,  I  do 
not  mean  technical  training  in  these  lines ;  but,  for  that  matter, 
no  very  important  technical  training  could  be  taught  in  ele- 
mentary schools  even  if  these  applications  of  art  were  limited 
to  girls  in  a  class  in  "domestic  art."  In  a  similar  manner,  all 
the  important  facts  of  hygiene,  nutrition,  food  economics,  home 
sanitation,  and  even  the  principles  of  cookery,  can  be  made 
interesting  to  both  boys  and  girls  of  years  equivalent  to  junior 
high  school,  if  presented  as  integral  parts  of  a  good  course, 
or  courses,  in  nature-study  and  introduction  to  science  or  ele- 
mentary science,  often  misnamed  "general  science."  This  also 
gives  numerous  opportunities  for  the  mechanical  side  of  indus- 
trial arts.  In  like  manner,  the  elements  of  agriculture  (not  the 
technique)  should  be  taught  so  as  to  reach  both  boys  and  girls, 
in  nature-study  and  in  applied  biology.  These  are  some  ways 
of  making  elementary  practical  arts  essentially  the  same  for 
both  sexes. 

Summarizing  the  above  points,  I  conclude  that  sex-differ- 
entiated study  of  elementary  practical  arts  should  be  avoided 
(i)  because  it  is  highly  desirable  that  education  in  general 
should  tend  to  make  men  and  women  sympathetically  inter- 
ested in  the  same  problems  of  life;  (2)  because  it  is  financially 
desirable  that  the  values  of  elementary  practical  arts  be  obtained 
as  far  as  possible  without  the  added  expenses  inevitably  con- 
nected with  new  and  special  classes;  and  (3)  because  the  pres- 
ent differentiation  between  the  sexes  deprives  each  of  knowl- 
edge which  is  important  for  the  practical  purposes  of  every- 
day life.  For  these  three  reasons,  I  urge  that  the  elementary 
facts  and  principles  of  practical  arts  should  be  taught  so  as  to 
make  both  sexes  understand  (but  not  be  experts  in)  the  same 
practical  problems  of  life.  Co-education  will  deserve  to  be  a 
failure  if  it  does  not  give  young  men  and  young  women  similar 
outlooks  on  life  in  all  its  aspects — practical  as  well  as  intellec- 
tual. Thus  viewing  the  possibility  of  cultural  rather  than  vo- 


336  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

cational  or  technical,  bearings  of  the  practical  arts,  I  am  un- 
able to  believe  in  sex-differentiated  elementary  studies  in  these 
lines. 

In  closing,  let  me  emphasize  the  thought  already  expressed 
that,  while  technical  aspects  of  the  practical  arts  are  beyond 
question  the  foundations  of  special  or  vocational  training,  the 
leadings  facts  or  ideas,  that  is,  the  elements  of  the  practical 
arts,  deserve  a  prominent  place  in  education  for  general  cul- 
ture, because  they  have  the  larger  "practical"  bearing  on  our 
daily  lives. 


BASES  OF  LABOR  EDUCATION ' 

Labor  education  is  not  a  training  for  a  vocation.  It  is 
rather  a  development  of  avocations.  Labor  education  should 
not  transfer  unchanged  the  curricula  and  aims  of  accepted 
schemes  of  education.  I  am  convinced  that  the  primary  bases 
of  labor  education  rest  on  the  solid  realities  of  our  lives.  We 
are  members  of  families,  dwellers  in  or  citizens  of  a  com- 
munity, a  state,  and  a  nation;  workers  in  an  industry,  and 
members  of  a  trade  union.  The  personal  and  social  contacts 
and  relations  formed  in  these  ways  give  us  the  bases  on  which 
to  erect  the  super-structure  of  an  educational  system  suited  to 
intelligent  adults.  In  the  past,  such  haphazard  and  undirected 
education  as  the  adult  acquired  was  largely  of  a  theoretic  na- 
ture. We  dabbled  in  "isms"  and  in  political  and  social  "futures." 
The  time  has  come  when  we  need  know  the  facts  of  our  en- 
vironment: their  social,  political,  industrial  and  economic  im- 
plications. 

The  second  main  prop  or  support  of  labor  education  is  our 
need,  as  workers,  to  have  a  clear  knowledge  of  the  entire 
sweep  of  our  industry.  In  the  garment  industries,  for  instance, 
we  need  to  study  the  facts  of  production  and  distribution  in 
all  the  stages  from  the  growing  of  cotton,  through  the  textile 
mills,  through  the  final  manufactured  product  in  our  shops  and 
factories,  and  the  distribution  of  these  manufactured  products. 

1  From  article  "Workers'  University  of  the  International  Ladies' 
Garment  Workers'  Union,"  by  Louis  S.  Friedland,  Educational  Director. 
School  and  Society.  11:348-50.  March  20,  1920. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  337 

For  this  reason,  we  are  interested  in  the  economics  of  the  indus- 
trial system  rather  than  in  some  generalized  or  theoretic  type 
of  economics.  There  is  no  stage  in  the  gamut  of  education 
which  can  not  be  based  on  the  facts  of  an  industry.  Such  a  re- 
basing  of  education  will  bring  about,  among  the  workers,  a 
new  and  keener  interest  in  the  processes,  hitherto  somewhat 
mechanical,  of  their  labor.  It  will  reveal  to  them  all  the  social 
and  international  implications  of  the  work  which  they  do  from 
day  to  day.  That  such  an  undertaking  of  work  will  help  to 
make  it  more  creative  and  self-expressive  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  individual  worker  goes  without  saying.  And,  when,  to 
this,  we  add  the  definite  and  clear  aim  of  organized  labor — to 
share  in  the  control  and  management  of  production  and  dis- 
tribution— our  daily  labor  will  assume  a  new  dignity  and  im- 
portance. It  is  only  by  laying  such  foundations  now  that  the 
workers  will  inherit  the  future. 

Finally,  we  can  not  afford,  in  labor  education,  to  lose  sight 
of  the  human,  the  personal  element.  There  is  no  doubt  in  my 
mind  that  the  industrial  conditions  of  the  last  century  and  more 
have  resulted  in  a  gradual  deterioration  of  human  material — a 
process  which  has  not  been  stemmed,  and  for  the  prevention 
of  which  very  little  systematized  effort  has  been  made.  We 
have  used  our  energy,  our  intelligence,  our  enthusiasm,  our 
forethought,  for  the  production  and  perfection  of  machines  and 
of  manufactured  material.  We  have  ended  by  becoming  the 
slaves  of  our  own  handiwork.  We  can  work  machines,  but 
machines  and  the  conditions  of  industry  have  mastered  us.  If 
is  necessary  to  regain  control  of  ourselves  as  human  beings, 
to  assume  mastery  of  our  bodies  and  souls,  to  come  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  human  machine,  to  regain  case  and  grace  of  move- 
ment. For  these  reasons,  health  education  and  physical  train- 
ing and  right  modes  of  recreation  are  necessary  ingredients  of 
workers'  education.  With  the  acquiring  of  greater  degrees  of 
leisure,  we  need  to  learn  the  right  use  of  leisure.  The  worker 
will  not  translate  his  free  time  in  terms  of  idleness,  extrava- 
gance, and  riotous  living.  For  the  worker,  leisure  must  be  filled 
with  activity  and  self-expression.  Whatever  powers,  talents  and 
faculties  have  lain  dormant  in  the  masses  of  workers  for  gen- 
erations must,  through  education,  be  brought  to  light  for  the 
saving  of  workers,  and  for  the  salvation  of  society. 


338  SELECTED    ARTICLES 


COOPERATIVE  PLAN1 

Again,  some  lessons  can  be  learned  only  through  practical 
experience  in  the  ways  of  the  world.  Some  of  these  lessons  in- 
clude the  proper  relation  between  the  material  and  the  spiritual 
phases  of  life,  the  meaning  and  value  of  money,  the  meaning 
of  work  and  wages,  and  the  relation  between  them,  the  im- 
portance of  life  motives.  The  learning  of  these  lessons  is  of 
as  much  consequence  to  one  individual  as  to  another,  irre- 
spective of  economic,  intellectual,  or  social  status.  The  co- 
operative plan  is  a  contribution  to  the  solution  of  some  of  the 
problems  involved,  and  hence  its  advantages  should  be  placed 
within  the  reach  of  all  youth. 

With  these  considerations  in  mind,  the  special  advantages 
of  the  cooperative  plan  in  the  high  school  may  be  summarized 
as  follows: 

(1)  The  safeguards  thrown  about  the  young  people  in  their 
places  of  employment,  through  the  supervision  exercised  by  the 
school  and  the  cooperation  of  employers,   show  an  almost  un- 
believable   improvement    over    the    conditions    hitherto    charac- 
terizing the  employment   of  minors  in  many  places. 

(2)  The  cooperative  plan  makes  it  possible  for  some  boys 
and  girls   to   continue  in   school,   because   of   wages   earned  on 
half-time.     Prolonging  the  period  of  active  connection  with  the 
school,  and  of  contact  with  sympathetic  teachers  and  advisers, 
confers  an  incalculable  benefit  on  growing  boys  and  girls,  and 
should  lead  to  a  permanent  impetus  to  better  things. 

(3)  The  plan  will  doubtless  induce  some  to  remain  in  school 
because   the   school   work  is   thus   made  more   interesting,   and 
the   student  can   see   a  more   direct  relation  between   schooling 
and  the  promotion  of  his  own  interests. 

(4)  The  experience  involved  promote  a  more  earnest  and 
thoughtful    attitude    toward    work    and    the    responsibilities    of 
life. 

(5)  The   plan   discourages    idleness   and   unwholesome   use 
of  time,  since  the  longer  school  day  and  year  are  fully  occu- 
pied with   interesting  activities. 

1  From  "Vocational  Education,"  by  William  T.  Bawden.  United 
States  Bureau  of  Education.  Bui.  1919,  no.  25,  p.  22-3. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  339 

(6)  The  opportunity  to  engage  in  gainful  employment  on 
half-time,  under  suitable  auspices,  has  a  definite  prevocational 
value,  assisting  young  persons  to  discover  their  tastes  and  prob- 
able aptitudes. 

(7)  The   successful   operation   of    a   cooperative   school   or 
class    affords    a    convincing    demonstration    that    a    reasonable 
amount  of  work,  under  proper  conditions,  can  be  made  to  con- 
tribute  definitely  to  the  development  of  youth,   instead  of  be- 
ing, as  frequently  heretofore,  a  demoralizing,  disheartening,  and 
stunting  influence. 

(8)  The  plan  gives  the  student,  at  the  very  least,  a   foot- 
hold in  some  industry  or  occupation,  so  that  he  does  not  feel 
lost  when  the  time  comes  to  leave  school  and  take  up  the  re- 
sponsibilities  of   self-support. 

(9)  It  should  be  emphasized  that  this  plan  does  not  neglect 
the  need  for  general  education,  but  insures  to  each  individual 
an   amount   of   cultural   and   liberalizing  education   sufficient  to 
serve  as  a  foundation  for  further  study  if  he  later  finds  it  pos- 
sible to  continue  his  education.     He  certainly  gets  more  of  the 
cultural  side  of  education  than  he  will  if  he  leaves  school  en- 
tirely to  go  to  work. 


SCHOOLING  IN  SERVICE1 

The  stranger  in  our  city  was  standing  on  Main  Street  with 
two  unexpected  hours  at  his  disposal.  He  inquired  of  two  boys 
coming  out  of  a  bank  about  the  city's  chief  points  of  interest. 
They  directed  him  to  the  new  government  post-office,  the  armory, 
and  other  places  of  attraction  common  to  all  cities. 

"Let's  ask  if  he  wants  to  see  the  school,"  said  one  of  the 
boys  as  he  looked  back  and  saw  the  stranger  standing  indif- 
ferently on  the  curb  where  they  had  left  him.  They  returned. 
Their  interest  in  their  school  interested  him.  "Well,  boys,  I  am 
from  the  doubtful  state  and  in  a  doubtful  state,"  laughed  he. 
"Show  me  the  way." 

At  the  entrance  of  the  main  building  of  the  State  Normal 
School  in  Fitchburg  the  visitor  was  met  by  a  boy  dressed  in 

1  By  Willis  B.  Anthony,  Director  of  Practical  Arts  Department  State 
Normal  School,  Fitchburg,  Mass.  Industrial  Arts  Magazine.  8:215-19. 
June,  1919. 


340  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

green  livery  fronted  with  brass  buttons,  who  took  his  hat,  coat 
and  belongings,  and  returned  with  a  check.  Thinking  the  boy 
was  hired  for  the  purpose  the  stranger  offered  him  a  tip.  The 
boy  wouldn't  take  it,  saying  that  he  was  a  school  boy  in  serv- 
ice, giving  his  share  of  time  as  a  messenger. 

"Upon  learning  that  I  was  leaving  by  train,"  the  stranger 
told  us  later,  after  the  messenger  had  ushered  him  to  the  office 
door,  "the  little  lad  in  green  coat  and  brass  buttons  offered  to 
telephone  and  find  if  my  train  was  on  time.  He  said  he  would 
arrange  for  a  taxi  and  spoke  as  if  I  might  decide  on  a  later 
train  after  I  had  started  looking  the  place  over.  Visitors  some- 
times had  him  look  up  the  next  train  before  they  got  thru  with 
the  school,  and  he  would  do  it  for  me." 

We  entered  a  large  room  where  twelve  to  fourteen-year-old 
clerical  workers  were  doing  parts  of  the  large  amount  of  busi- 
ness reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  which  is  always  necessary 
in  running  so  large  an  educational  plant.  The  room  is  divided 
into  three  sections.  Thirty  type-writers  almost  rattle  the  glass 
partitions  of  the  first  section. 

"What's  this  boy  doing?"  asked  the  visitor  as  he  sat  down 
beside  a  checking  machine.  "Paying  our  debts,  sir,"  the  boy 
replied,  as  he  handed  over  a  pile  of  official  looking  papers  which 
he  had  copied,  with  an  occasional  help  from  his  teacher,  from 
a  list  which  she  had  given  him.  "What!  Do  all  of  these 
mean  real  money?"  was  asked.  "Indeed  they  do."  A  few 
weeks  before  another  boy  serving  his  turn  with  his  checking 
mate  at  the  machine  had  made  out  as  part  of  their  regular 
work  a  check  for  $49,500  of  real  money  to  be  paid  to  a  local 
contractor  for  his  work  on  the  new  dormitory.  The  little 
fellow's  hand  never  trembled  and  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  the 
decimal  points  were  all  in  good  standing.  These  points  were 
allowed  to  carelessly  slip  neither  one  or  two  places  to  the  left 
or  right.  The  boy  knew  that  such  a  mistake  would  make  a 
difference  to  the  contractor  and  to  the  State  of  Massachusetts 
and  besides  such  a  break  would  "queer"  him  and  the  commer- 
cial department  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

Years  ago  we  got  check  writing  as  a  finishing  touch  before 
entering  high  school.  Such  decimal  days  caused  dismal  stays 
after  school.  When  those  checks  were  finally  all  done,  the 
the  best  of  them  beautified  the  bulletin  board  and  the  rest  of 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  341 

them  beautified  the  waste  places.  To  the  best  of  our  knowledge 
those  in  the  waste  places  were  more  useful  than  those  on  the 
board.  They  were  emptied  from  the  waste  boxes  into  the  fire 
boxes  where  they  helped  the  janitor  start  his  morning  blaze. 

Shut  off  from  the  noise  of  industry  made  by  the  typewriters 
are  two  telephone  booths.  One  is  for  private  calls.  The  other 
contains  the  school's  switchboard.  This  switchboard  is  operated 
by  a  "hello  girl"  in  her  earliest  'teens.  She  serves  her  share 
of  time  in  answering  the  signal  lights  which  wink  on  and  off. 
She  plugs  in  connections  according  to  the  call  for  or  from  any 
one  of  the  twenty  telephones  on  the  property. 

At  the  opposite  end  of  the  room  are  five  hundred  post-office 
boxes  where  twelve  to  fourteen-year-old  nieces  and  nephews 
serve  their  Uncle  Samuel  in  sorting  and  delivering  the  morn- 
ing and  afternoon  mail.  Proud  of  his  suit  of  official  gray  the 
postmasterling  stands  behind  the  iron  grill  serving  his  turn  at 
the  delivery  window. 

Between  the  post-office  and  the  telephone  section  there  is  a 
large  counter  where  paymasters  and  tellers  handle  money, 
ring  the  cash  register,  write  receipts  in  duplicate,  and  sell  sup- 
plies. Visitors  cause  no  distraction.  Doing  work  on  a  cash  and 
credit  basis,  operating  the  filing  cabinets  and  the  adding  machine, 
or  the  posting  of  loose-leaf  ledgers,  necessitates  business-like 
concentration.  The  juvenile  workers  have  become  accustomed 
to  strangers  just  as  they  have  accepted  the  expressman,  the 
telephone  inspectors,  and  demonstrators  of  new  office  equip- 
ment, as  associates  in  every-day  work.  There  is  a  welcoming 
nod  of  recognition  for  all  and  the  work  goes  on. 

The  visitor  decided  to  take  the  later  train  and  agreed  to. 
speak  at  assembly  after  lunch. 

"I  have  seen  boys  doing  things  today,  which  I  had  to  play 
hookey  to  do  when  I  was  in  school.  I  have  seen  boys  using 
benches  and  girls  using  cooking  tables,  which  your  earlier  boys 
of  nine  years  ago  helped  to  build.  I  have  seen  boys  binding 
school  magazines  and  repairing  their  school  books.  I  have  seen 
samples  of  all  the  printing  that  has  been  done.  I  learn  that 
those  tennis  courts  were  school  made  and  saw  you  learning  how 
to  use  them." 

"What  do  you  suppose  happens  when  the  faucet  leaks  in 
my  house?  My  wife  tells  me  and  I  tell  the  plumber.  He  comes 


342  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

out  from  the  city  and  I  pay  the  price.  I  understand  that  when 
your  school  pipes  freeze  and  the  faucets  leak  that  these  boys 
are  guided  in  locating  the  trouble  and  help  make  things  right. 

"I  have  talked  with  tradesmen  on  your  faculty  who  work 
with  you.  I  also  find  there  are  young  journeymen  and  high 
school  graduates,  sixty  in  all,  who  have  given  up  their  jobs  for 
the  sake  of  being  students  at  this  institution.  I  have  seen  these 
young  men  students  at  work  in  their  own  classes  and  with  their 
own  classes  of  boys,  training  to  be  teachers  of  this  practical 
arts  work  with  the  boys  of  other  towns  and  cities.  I  have  been 
laughed  at  for  taking  some  of  the  large  boys  in  their  overalls 
and  jumpers  for  these  young  men  and  your  faculty  tradesmen. 
You  all  looked  alike  and  acted  alike. 

"When  I  reached  this  assembly  the  hall  was  dark.  Four 
tremendous  big  acts  were  going  on  in  that  moving  picture  booth 
of  yours.  The  whole  plot  was  as  bright  as  day  on  this  screen 
before  you.  I  find  it  hard  to  realize  that  I  am  visiting  school. 
I  fail  to  find  where  running  this  place  as  a  business  stops  and 
where  running  it  as  a  school  begins." 

School  life  is  going  to  give  part-time  to  the  introduction 
of  such  real  life  activities  as  will  give  boys  and  girls,  long  be- 
fore they  become  of  age,  a  chance  to  do  the  best  act  expected 
of  a  citizen — the  doing  of  better  than  his  bit,  the  giving  of  his 
best.  During  the  habit-making  period  of  their  'teens,  boys  and 
girls  are  going  to  have  personal  experiences  in  Service.  These 
experiences  will  fix  in  their  consciousness  a  knowledge  of  the 
jogs  and  joys  in  the  job  of  giving  their  share  in  the  work  of 
"world  building"  which  should  and  must  be  delegated  to  them. 

Hung  across  the  street  is  a  bannered  appeal  for  citizens  to 
subscribe  during  a  Red  Cross  drive.  The  next  to  the  last  line 
reads  in  flaring  letters,  "Give  until  it  hurts."  The  author  of 
that  slogan  characterized  with  more  force  than  perhaps  he  knew 
the  glaring  failure  of  the  schooling  of  his  youth.  We  were 
schooled  in  the  same  class  with  him  to  strive  for  the  results 
acquired  from  the  use  of  ingoing  rather  than  outgoing  abilities. 
Consequently  it  has  hurt  to  suddenly  learn  new  habits  of  giving. 
In  our  first  year  at  war  we  learned  by  heart  more  lessons  in 
gift-making  and  in  Service  than  in  all  our  previous  years  of 
schooling. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  343 

IS  THERE  A  PROFESSION  OF  BUSINESS  AND 
CAN  WE  REALLY  TRAIN  FOR  IT?1 

The  most  satisfactory  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  growth 
and  support  of  commercial  education  in  this  country.  From 
what  quarter  has  come  the  incentive  for  the  establishment  of 
commercial  schools  and  colleges  and  commercial  departments 
of  universities?  From  enlightened  business  opinion  looking  to 
the  future.  Again,  what  has  been  the  moving  force  for  the  in- 
stallation of  courses  in  business  administration  looking  to  the 
training  of  young  men  eventually  to  fill  the  highest  business 
positions,  and  again  the  answer,  enlightened  business  opinion. 
Is  this  well  founded?  If  not,  how  account  for  the  growth  of 
commercial  school  and  university  departments  since  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Wharton  School  of  Finance  and  Commerce  in 
connection  with  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1881  and  for 
the  steady  increase  in  numbers  of  students.  How  explain  the 
demonstrated  readiness  of  business  men  to  cooperate  with  com- 
mercial departments  by  giving  their  time  to  lecturing,  opening 
their  plants  to  students,  and  the  like?  Assuredly  interest  may 
be  stimulated  by  advertising,  by  novelty,  by  attractive  conditions, 
but  in  the  long  run  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  will  assert 
itself.  Universities  and  colleges  will  not  continue  to  offer,  much 
less  to  augment,  courses  for  which  there  is  little  demand  on  the 
part  of  students;  nor  will  students  enter  courses  for  commer- 
cial training  indefinitely  unless  there  is  a  demand  for  the  com- 
mercially educated  in  the  business  world.  And  it  is  now  only 
thirty-five  years  since  the  Wharton  School  of  Finance  and 
Commerce  was  founded. 

Those  who  doubt  and  cavil  at  the  value  of  commercial  edu- 
cation for  business  have  closed  their  eyes  to  the  extent  to  which 
business  has  become  professionalized.  They  have  failed  to  note 
the  lawyers,  the  engineers,  the  chemists,  the  accountants,  the  sci- 
entific managers  who  from  position  of  consultants  only  in 
emergencies  have  come  to  occupy  positions  of  heads  of  de- 
partments, business  managers,  partners  or  chief  demonstrators 

1  From  article  by  Elliot  H.  Goodwin,  General  Secretary  United  States 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  Washington,  D.C.  Pan-American  Scientific  Con- 
gress. Proceedings.  1915.  v.  4,  p.  94-8. 


344  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

and  owners.  They  have  passed  over  with  singular  obtuseness 
the  professionalizing  of  their  own  staffs,  or  of  those  of  their 
successful  competitors,  in  specializing  in  advertising,  cost  ac- 
counting, salesmanship,  handling  of  industrial  problems,  employ- 
ment, and  the  like.  With  all  the  advance  for  American  busi- 
ness has  made,  there  remain  those  who  refuse  to  recognize  the 
changed  conditions  that  time  has  brought,  who  desire  to  be  let 
alone  to  do  business  in  the  old  way  and  who  spend  their  time 
in  inveighing  against  laws  and  restrictions,  supervision  and  con- 
trol, the  organization  of  labor,  and  other  conditions  that  have 
come  to  stay.  Fundamentally  they  lack  the  education  and  the 
resulting  elasticity  to  conform  to  the  new  and  are  engaged  in 
butting  their  heads  against  the  wall.  Every  now  and  then  a 
failure  in  the  old-established  form  of  solid  reputation  calls 
striking  attention  to  this  attitude  on  the  part  of  American 
business. 

There  has  been  and  there  always  will  be  two  schools — and 
it  is  really  fortunate  that  it  is  so — composed  of  those,  on  the 
one  hand,  who  lay  main  stress  on  the  lesson  of  actual  experience 
and  those  on  the  other,  who  advocate  the  previous  training  as 
doing  away  in  part  the  necessity  of  learning  by  experience.  The 
one  exercises  a  curb  on  the  other.  It  is  easy  to  maintain  that 
too  much  time  may  be  spent  in  preparation  so  that  the  youth 
is  delayed  beyond  the  proper  age"  for  taking  up  the  practical 
end,  but  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  difficult  to  understand 
in  the  present  and  growing  complexity  of  business  how  the 
youth  who  enters  business  as  an  office  boy  or  brakeman  can 
acquire,  through  experiences  alone,  the  training  which  will  ad- 
vance him  to  the  head. 

Clearly  the  school  of  practical  experience  produces  but  a 
small  proportion  of  men  with  large  business  capacity.  As  a 
method  of  training  it  is  wasteful.  It  is  equally  clear  that  the 
college  or  university  commercial  training  cannot  be  expected 
to  graduate  only  those  of  marked  business  ability  any  more  than 
law  schools  produce  great  lawyers  or  medical  schools  produce 
great  surgeons.  Much  remains  with  the  man  himself,  his  in- 
born capacity  and  power  to  expand.  Yet  professional  training 
for  lawyers  and  doctors  is  now  universally  accepted.  What  is 
there  about  business  capacity  or  executive  ability  that  would 
place  them  between  the  pale  of  those  things  for  which  a  special 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  345 

education  is  valuable?  Is  it  the  power  to  handle  men?  Then 
the  training  of  the  army  officer  or  the  professor  should  be 
equally  futile.  Is  it  the  imagination,  the  power  to  grasp  and 
arrange  in  an  orderly  manner  and  execute?  If  these  can  not 
be  trained  in  part  what  practical  purpose  does  it  serve?  To 
what  end  the  study  of  history  and  biography  if  it  does  not  en- 
able us  to  apply  the  experience  and  the  ingenuity  of  others  to 
our  own  problems?  In  spite  of  the  example  of  men  in  all 
walks  of  life  who  have  started  at  the  bottom  and  risen  to  the 
highest  places,  there  is  nothing  so  sad  in  business  and  industry 
as  the  consideration  of  90  per  cent,  of  those  who  are  competent 
for  the  positions  they  fill  who  lack  the  education  or  the  almost 
superhuman  will  to  make  up  for  its  lack  that  will  permit  them 
to  rise  above  a  certain  dead  level. 

In   commercial   education   lies   the   hope   for   the   future   of 
American  business. 


PROGRESS   IN   VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL 
EDUCATION  l 

In  recognizing  the  nation's  interest  in  secondary  agricultural 
education  a  fundamental  principle  in  all  education  for  all  of 
the  people  is  all  but  admitted.  More  and  more  we  are  begin- 
ning to  see  that  in  a  democracy  the  problem  of  educating  all 
of  the  people  is  a  problem  not  for  the  local  community  alone, 
nor  for  the  state  and  local  community,  but  for  the  state  and 
community  working  in  cooperation  with  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment. 

Vocational  agriculture  as  we  understand  it  today  has  to  do 
with  the  training  of  a  more  efficient  and  more  productive  farm- 
ing citizenship.  This  means  that  in  addition  to  learning  those 
things  that  will  make  the  young  men  who  elect  this  work  bet- 
ter farmers,  they  will  also  receive  that  training  that  will  enable 
them  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  citizenships  in  a  progres- 
sive rural  community.  In  other  words,  a  course  in  vocational 
agriculture  is  not  a  so-called  "tradesman's"  course.  It  is  the 
best  preparation  for  a  productive  life  on  the  farm. 

1  By  W.  S.  Taylor,  Professor  of  Agricultural  Education.  Penn  State 
Farmer.  13:131.  January,  1920. 


346  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

In  1917-18,  the  first  year  the  Federal  Vocational  Education 
Act  was  in  operation,  there  were  569  schools  offering  instruction 
to  boys  and  girls  who  wanted  to  become  farmers.  There  were 
enrolled  in  these  569  schools  15,187  earnest,  enthusiastic  boys 
and  girls.  Their  earnestness  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  each 
student  enrolling  in  vocational  agriculture  carries  an  agricul- 
tural project  covering  a  period  of  six  months  or  more. 

In  1918-19  there  were  812  schools  with  an  enrollment  of 
21,033  students.  This  shows  an  increase  of  43  per  cent,  in  the 
number  of  schools  and  of  39  per  cent,  in  the  pupils  enrolled. 
This  growth  has  made  during  the  period  of  the  war,  a  time 
when  it  was  difficult  to  find  men  available  for  teaching  in  this 
field. 


PART-TIME   EDUCATION    IN   HOUSEHOLD 
ARTS1 

A  new  note  has  been  struck  in  education.  It  may  have  been 
sounding  for  some  time  past,  but  in  the  present  world  conflict 
attention  has  been  directed  to  it  so  that  laymen  and  educators 
alike  recognize  its  purpose  and  its  force.  This  new  note  is 
voiced  in  the  press  and  in  public  speech  as  "education  for  serv- 
ice." Attention  so  long  centered  upon  the  personal  career  of  the 
pupil  is  now  bent  upon  education  for  the  service  which  each 
individual  must  render  to  human  society.  It  is  bigger  than  the 
individual,  or  the  family ;  than  the  state  or  the  nation ;  it  is  world 
service.  So  deep  has  this  thought  been  driven  into  the  social 
consciousness  of  the  people  that  cooperative  measures  in  edu- 
cation, merely  tolerated  less  than  a  decade  ago,  are  today  re- 
ceiving the  wholehearted  support  of  laymen,  parents,  social 
workers,  employees,  employers,  and  educators — a  combined  force 
which,  if  wisely  directed,  augurs  greater  advancement  in  edu- 
cation in  the  next  generation  than  has  been  known  in  past  years. 

Education  for  service  promises  the  most  desirable  develop- 
ment of  the  individual;  hence  the  old  ideal  is  merged  into  the 
new  in  a  way  which  promises  the  best  use  of  the  old  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  new  ideal.  Education  is,  we  believe,  dedicated 

1  Address  delivered  before  the  Home  Economics  Session  of  the  Na- 
tional Education  Association  Convention,  New  York,  July  4,  1916,  by 
Cleo  Murtland.  Journal  of  Home  Economics.  9:51-8.  February,  1917- 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  347 

to  flexibility  which  makes  it  possible  to  discover  the  service  in- 
dividuals may  render,  and  to  train  them  so  that  their  talents 
may  be  utilized  to  their  own  satisfaction  and  the  good  of  so- 
ciety. In  this  sense,  we  heartily  approve  of  replacing  the  per- 
sonal in  education  for  the  impersonal,  altruistic  ideal  which  serv- 
ice to  others  implies.  This  spirit  of  education  is  to  be  wel- 
comed in  household  arts  education  if  it  can  eliminate  the  over- 
emphasis of  the  personal  which  has  militated  so  strongly  against 
its  fullest  success. 

Education  for  service  follows  so  close  upon  the  heels  of  the 
movement  for  education  for  all  boys  and  all  girls,  whether  rich 
or  poor,  well  endowed  or  less  fortunate  mentally,  physically  fit 
or  unfit,  as  to  merge  them  into  one.  Service  is  altruism,  not 
commercialism,  in  the  light  of  this  interpretation.  There  are  no 
longer  any  mental  reservations  in  the  statement  "education  for 
all."  We  all  believe  in  it.  There  is  no  longer  serious  debate 
as  to  the  inefficacy  of  one  type  of  education  for  all.  Individual 
differences  are  recognized  and  education  is  being  shaped  to 
meet  them  as  they  become  defined. 

Time  is  no  longer  wasted  upon  discussion  as  to  whether  the 
education  of  the  boys  and  girls  who  enter  the  workshops,  the 
stores,  the  factories,  the  offices,  is  completed  when  they  have 
gained  enough  information  to  secure  a  position.  Education  be- 
yond that  which  may  be  given  in  the  schoolroom  during  the  ele- 
mentary school  period,  the  high  school  period,  and  in  all-day 
schools,  no  longer  constitutes  education  according  to  modern 
standards.  The  workshop  is  being  carried  into  the  school  and 
the  school  into  the  workshop.  The  tearing  down  of  school 
fences,  so  that  the  school  may  spread  out  into  community  life, 
and  community  activities  may  enter  the  school,  opens  up  edu- 
cational possibilities  little  dreamed  of  a  decade  ago. 

Household  arts  education  taught  by  the  part-time  method 
will  demand  teachers  of  broad  social  interest,  women  who  can 
bend  their  scientific  knowledge  and  specialized  training  to  the 
development  of  education  for  service.  The  ideals  of  house- 
hold arts  education  will  remain  high,  but  will  be  made  suf- 
ficiently flexible  to  meet  the  needs  of  different  groups  of  women 
and  varying  types  of  homes.  At  first-hand  knowledge  of  home 
problems  will  constitute  an  important  part  of  their  training;  the 
ability  to  meet  the  home-making  situations  intelligently,  and  to 


348  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

impart  instruction  relative  to  them,  will  replace  the  formal 
methods  we  now  have.  Household  arts  education  under  this 
new  order  has  its  great  opportunity. 


THE  HARVARD  BUREAU  OF  VOCATIONAL 
GUIDANCE ' 

The  idea  of  an  organized  effort  to  aid  young  people  in 
choosing  their  vocations,  preparing  for  them,  and  making 
progress  in  them,  originated  with  Professor  Frank  Parsons,  of 
the  Law  School  of  Boston  University,  while  he  was  preparing 
his  book,  "The  Ideal  City."  A  few  successful  experiments  at 
the  Civic  Service  House  in  Boston  led  to  the  raising  of  funds 
for  the  support  of  a  central  Bureau,  of  which  Professor  Par- 
sons was  made  Director.  In  1908,  an  office  was  secured  in  the 
heart  of  the  business  district  and  the  doors  were  opened  to  any 
who  might  come  for  help  with  their  vocational  problems. 
Shortly  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Parsons  in  1909,  Mr.  Meyer 
Bloomfield,  '01,  was  appointed  Director  of  the  Bureau.  It  was 
under  his  leadership  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Bureau's  con- 
structive work  was  accomplished. 

For  some  time,  the  Director  and  his  assistants  were  occupied 
almost  wholly  in  the  work  of  counseling  with  individuals,  but 
as  interest  in  the  movement  grew,  other  fields  of  effort  were 
entered.  From  modest  beginnings  a  varied  and  extensive  group 
of  activities  developed.  Nearly  every  vocation  bureau,  or  vo- 
cational guidance  project  now  carried  on  in  this  country,  has 
profited  through  consultation  with  the  Boston  Bureau.  Under 
its  auspices  the  work  was  first  organized  in  the  Boston  schools. 
Courses  in  vocational  guidance  were  offered  by  the  Director  and 
his  assistant  for  Boston  teachers,  and  in  a  number  of  colleges 
and  universities  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  In  addition 
to  systematic  training  of  teachers  and  social  workers  who  de- 
sired to  undertake  this  work,  information,  suggestion,  and  help 
have  been  given  to  committees  and  individuals  sent  from  other 
cities  to  study  the  Boston  experiment.  Files  of  reference  mate- 
rial, comprising  the  only  extensive  library  of  vocational  guid- 

1  By  Roy  Willmarth  Kelly,  Director.  Harvard  Graduate  Magazine. 
26:228-33.  December,  1917- 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  349 

ance  in  the  United  States,  have  been  collected  for  the  use  of 
parents,  teachers,  investigators,  students,  and  others. 

One  of  the  developments  of  the  movement  has  taken  the 
form  of  "life-career"  classes  for  students  in  the  intermediate 
grades  and  in  secondary  schools.  In  these  classes,  pupils  under- 
take a  systematic  study  of  vocations :  the  conditions  of  employ- 
ment for  young  workers;  kinds  of  work  to  avoid;  opportunities 
for  continuing  one's  general  education  after  entering  upon  em- 
ployment; the  extent,  relative  importance,  and  stability  of  oc- 
cupations ;  the  necessary  training  and  qualifications  for  the  broad 
general  fields  of  employment;  surveys  of  typical,  industrial,  com- 
mercial, and  professional  occupations;  and  other  matters  af- 
fecting the  choice  of  a  vocation  or  successful  entrance  upon 
work.  Where  the  life-career  class  cannot  be  provided,  instruc- 
tion of  this  nature  is  often  introduced  in  connection  with  the 
usual  school  subjects. 

There  was  in  the  beginning,  and  there  still  is,  a  lack  of  the 
right  kind  of  reading  on  vocational  subjects  to  place  in  the 
hands  of  students  or  young  persons  just  entering  upon  a  trade 
or  profession.  Just  now  the  Federal  Government  needs  thou- 
sands of  trained  men  for  the  shipbuilding  industry.  There  is  an 
abundant  supply  of  books  dealing  with  the  technical  side  of  the 
industry,  text-books  for  marine  architects,  manuals  for  engi- 
neers and  builders,  theoretical  and  mathematical  treatises  on  the 
subject,  but  nothing  has  been  published  which  describes  the  in- 
dustry in  the  light  of  vocational  guidance.  Nothing  is  avail- 
able to  which  the  man  engaged  in  a  trade  or  the  school  or  col- 
lege graduate  can  turn  for  information  as  to  where  he  might 
fit  into  the  shipbuilding  industry.  There  is  nothing  in  print  that 
describes  the  several  operations  of  ship  construction  in  a  simple, 
accurate  manner,  that  lists  the  typical  trades  represented,  or 
that  points  out  the  usual  opportunities  and  avenues  for  advance- 
ment, the  hours  of  work,  and  the  rates  of  pay. 

In  addition  to  books  dealing  with  the  underlying  principles 
of  vocational  guidance,  the  Bureau  has  from  time  to  time  pub- 
lished special  studies  giving  information  of  the  sort  now  needed 
with  respect  to  the  shipbuilding  industry.  "Business  Employ- 
ments" and  "The  Shoe  Industry,"  recently  prepared  by  Mr. 
Frederick  J.  Allen,  are  of  this  character.  Shorter  bulletins  in- 
tended for  boys  and  girls  of  high-school  age  have  been  issued 


350  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

on  confectionery  manufacture,  architecture,  the  department 
store,  banking,  and  the  machinist  trade. 

During  the  past  five  years,  the  Bureau  has  been  actively 
identified  with  the  movement  to  establish  special  departments 
for  labor  maintenance  and  supervision.  As  Director  of  the  Vo- 
cation Bureau,  Mr.  Bloomfield  was  instrumental  in  bringing 
about  the  formation  of  the  Boston  Employment  Managers'  As- 
sociation, the  first  organization  in  the  United  States  to  meet 
for  a  systematic  study  of  the  selection,  promotion,  efficiency 
rating,  and  discharge  of  employees,  and  other  vitally  important 
questions  of  a  similar  nature  relating  to  personnel.  In  com- 
mon with  others  closely  in  touch  with  the  industrial  world,  Mr. 
Bloomfield  recognized  some  time  ago  that  the  hope  for  effective 
vocational  guidance  was  futile  without  the  cooperation  of  those 
whose  duty  it  was  to  select  employees  and  who  were  respon- 
sible for  the  conditions  of  employment. 

As  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Bureau,  Pro- 
fessor Paul  H.  Hanus  of  the  Harvard  Division  of  Education 
had  been  in  close  touch  with  its  work  from  the  beginning  and 
had  aided  materially  in  its  development.  Moreover,  the  Har- 
vard University  Summer  School  was  the  first  institution  in 
the  country  to  undertake  a  course  for  teachers  in  vocational 
guidance,  and  the  Division  of  Education  had  more  recently 
established  several  regular  courses  in  the  subject.  For  these 
reasons,  it  seemed  likely  that  under  the  auspices  of  the  Division 
of  Education,  the  Bureau  would  be  assured  of  sympathetic 
leadership  and  an  enlarged  opportunity  for  constructive  service. 

The  faculty  of  the  Graduate  School  of  Business  Adminis- 
tration has  voted  to  cooperate  in  the  management  of  the  Bureau 
by  appointing  two  representatives  to  confer  with  the  Division 
of  Education  on  all  important  plans  and  activities,  thus  fur- 
nishing a  vitally  necessary  contact  with  persons  interested  in 
the  study  of  business  and  industrial  problems. 

The  following  definite  aims  have  been  formulated  as  the 
basis  of  the  work  for  the  coming  year  : 

To  carry  on  occupational  research  and  to  publish  material 
giving  information  concerning  occupations. 

To  continue  to  promote  the  movement  for  vocational  guid- 
ance and  to  serve  as  a  centre  of  information  on  vocational 
guidance. 


VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION  351 

To  give  personal  counsel  regarding  the  problems  of  choos- 
ing, preparing  for,  and  entering  on  a  vocation. 

To  conduct  investigations  in  schools  or  other  institutions,  in 
various  lines  of  business,  and  in  the  industries  with  a  view  to 
determine  the  need  and  to  suggest  plans  for  vocational  guidance. 

To  train  vocational  counselors  for  service  in  schools,  in  in- 
stitutions, and  in  employment  departments. 

Tc>  continue,  so  far  as  opportunity  may  offer,  the  cooperation, 
begun  by  the  Bureau  through  its  connection  with  Employment 
Managers'  Associations,  in  solving  vocational  guidance  problems 
in  industry. 

To  aid  and  cooperate  with  other  vocational  guidance  organi- 
zations. 

To  be  of  individual  and  public  service  in  dealing  with  the 
questions  of  vocational  guidance  arising  from  the  present  war. 

One  of  the  important  functions  of  the  Bureau  has  been  to 
aid  school  departments  and  institutions  in  planning  their  be- 
ginnings in  vocational  guidance.  Because  of  the  more  intimate 
connection  with  the  Division  of  Education,  this  assistance  ought 
to  become  more  important  as  time  goes  on. 

During  recent  years  the  movement  has  been  given  consid- 
erable attention  in  the  leading  educational  journals  and  in  the 
lay  press.  The  National  Vocational  Guidance  Association 
through  its  meetings  and  its  publications  has  done  much  toward 
clarifying  opinion  as  to  the  urgent  need  for  better  guidance 
and  the  proper  methods  to  be  followed.  Many  normal  schools 
and  universities  are  offering  courses  in  the  subject  and  the  prob- 
lem has  been  thoughtfully  considered  in  scores  of  educational 
conferences.  In  spite  of  all  this,  there  remain  many  misconcep- 
tions as  to  the  real  aims  of  vocational  guidance,  and  rather 
widespread  reluctance  on  the  part  of  schools  to  make  anything 
like  a  thorough-going  effort  to  solve  its  complex  problems.  It 
is  quite  natural  that  business  men  and  most  educators  them- 
selves should  feel  that  because  teachers  are  out  of  touch  with 
the  "business"  world,  they  are  not  well  qualified  to  advise  pupils 
in  regard  to  opportunities  in  vocations.  The  assumption  is  easily 
made  that  parents  ought  to  provide  all  the  necessary  guidance, 
or  that  choosing  a  career  is  wholly  a  matter  of  individual  re- 
sponsibility. A  right  diagnosis  of  any  person's  fitness  for  a 
given  occupation  seems  to  demand  not  only  an  elaborate  study 


352  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

of  an  innumerable  array  of  vocations,  but  likewise  a  careful 
analysis  of  traits  of  character  and  personality,  and  a  knowledge 
of  individual  abilities  and  aptitudes. 

It  is  beginning  to  be  recognized  that  the  school  has  neglected 
many  obvious  opportunities  for  directing  the  pupil's  develop- 
ment in  such  a  way  as  to  make  his  life  decisions  surer  and 
easier.  Without  in  any  sense  becoming  "crassly  materialistic" 
or  neglecting  the  aims  of  general  culture,  education  can  offer 
ways  and  means  for  acquaintance  with  the  practical  world. 
The  life-career  class,  community  civics,  emphasis  upon  the  vo- 
cational aspects  of  science,  history,  geography,  and  other  sub- 
jects, English  compositions  on  vocational  topics,  practical  ex- 
perience in  shop  work  and  domestic  science,  in  arts  and  crafts, 
the  Boy  Scout  and  Camp  Fire  Girl  movements,  participation  in 
debating,  athletics,  student  self-government,  management  of  pub- 
lications and  other  enterprises,  are  a  few  of  the  means  for  pre- 
vocational  instruction  tried  and  found  successful  in  progressive 
schools.  Indeed,  principals  have  found  that  the  attempt  to  help 
in  finding  employment  for  their  students  and  the  subsequent 
supervision  of  the  worker  was  not  only  practicable,  but  that  it 
reacted  in  all  sorts  of  favorable  ways  upon  the  administration 
of  the  school. 

Constant  emphasis  needs  to  be  placed  upon  the  statement  that 
effective  vocational  guidance  must  be  a  personal  progressive 
matter,  taking  account  of  individual  development  and  changing 
interests  over  a  period  of  years.  True  guidance  can  come  about 
only  through  a  continuous  adaptation  of  life  in  the  school,  in 
industry,  and  at  home,  designed  to  help  the  boy  or  girl  discover 
his  own  abilities  and  limitations  and  adjust  his  vocational  plans 
accordingly.  The  time  has  not  yet  come,  and  apparently  never 
will,  when  one  or  two  hours  with  a  counselor,  who  brings  to 
bear  his  knowledge  of  human  traits  and  occupational  demands 
and  uses  some  standardized  system  of  tests,  can  be  depended 
upon  as  the  sole  basis  for  the  choice  of  a  calling. 

Vocational  guidance  is  not  synonymous  with  placement,  nor 
is  it  concerned  with  the  classification  of  children  according  to 
types.  It  does  seek  to  help  youth  to  avoid  the  false  guidance 
of  paid  impostors,  the  shackles  of  narrow  environment  and  one- 
sided development,  uncritical  judgments  based  on  the  real  or 
apparent  success  of  others,  and  false  conceptions  of  social  ob- 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  353 

ligation  arising  from  the  prevalence  of  the  ideas  embodied  in 
such  terms  as  "getting  ahead  of  the  other  fellow,"  or  the  "race 
for  success." 

It  seems  to  be  fairly  clear  that  by  the  provision  of  broad 
experiences  in  the  school  curriculum,  a  closer  coordination  of 
the  school  and  the  manifold  aspects  of  social  and  industrial 
activity,  by  effective  preparation  for  and  guided  entrance  upon 
work,  by  promoting  vocational  guidance  in  industry  through 
properly  organized  employment  departments  and  enlightened 
methods  of  personnel  management,  much  of  the  aimless  drift- 
ing through  school,  through  life,  and  through  employment  can 
be  stopped.  It  is  in  these  directions  that  beginnings  ought  to 
be  made,  and  it  is  to  help  in  these  efforts  that  the  Bureau  of 
Vocational  Guidance  exists. 


FROM  SCHOOL  TO  WORK1 

The  first  step  of  any  community,  according  to  the  commit- 
tee's program,  ought  to  be  to  discover  how  adequately  certain 
basic  activities  are  already  being  carried  on,  since  it  is  through 
these  that  vocational  guidance  must  ultimately  be  developed. 
They  include :  adequate  school  census  and  attendance  records ; 
psychological  tests  to  aid  in  revealing  individual  ability;  school 
scholarships ;  school  social  case  work  as  an  aid  to  handicapped 
homes ;  regular  physical  examination  and  medical  care ;  and  ade- 
quate administration  of  child  labor  and  compulsory  attendance 
laws.  With  these  properly  functioning,  there  should  be  a  care- 
ful survey  of  the  essential  characteristics  of  the  community's 
industries  and  of  its  educational  facilities,  as  well  as  of  exist- 
ing agencies  for  vocational  guidance  and  placement. 

The  next  step  is  to  set  up  the  machinery  for  coordinating 
the  various  activities  essential  to  guidance.  The  committee 
recommends  a  central  vocational  guidance  and  employment  de- 
partment under  the  board  of  education,  with  a  director  respon- 
sible to  the  superintendent  at  the  head.  Within  this  department 
there  might  well  be,  it  thinks,  a  central  advisory  committee 
representing  social  and  health  agencies,  employers'  associations, 
labor  organizations,  parents'  associations  and  others  as  a  means 

1  Survey.     43:745-6.     March    13,    1920. 


354  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

of  correlating  the  attendance,  census  and  other  school  work 
with  that  of  outside  agencies.  Within  the  department  there 
should  be  the  following  divisions :  permanent  census  and  at- 
tendance; educational  scholarships;  psychological  service;  in- 
formation, research  and  training;  and  guidance,  placement  and 
employment  certification.  Each  community  would  have  to  settle 
for  itself  such  questions  as  size  of  staff  and  precise  method  of 
administration. 

The  real  work  of  guidance  would  fall  to  the  last  of  the  di- 
visions named  above.  Counsellors,  working  under  its  direction, 
ought  to  be  provided  in  sufficient  numbers  to  give  intensive  serv- 
ice to  children  approaching  the  time  of  differentiation  or  with- 
drawal from  school.  These  counsellors  should  have  knowledge 
of  the  child  based  on  (i)  personal  acquaintance,  (2)  a  cumu- 
lative record  including  physical  and  psychological  reports, 
teachers'  estimate  and  school  record  which  should  follow  the 
child  through  school  and  be  filed  in  the  central  bureau  at  his 
withdrawal,  and  (3)  social  facts  gathered  from  the  attendance 
officers,  school  case  workers  or  other  agencies.  Familiarity 
with  various  educational  facilities  in  the  community  is  also  essen- 
tial for  the  counsellor.  Finally,  he  should  have  knowledge  of 
industry  based  on  (i)  a  general  understanding  of  the  factors 
involved  in  industrial  relationship,  (2)  information  about  local 
occupational  opportunities  from  the  Division  of  Information, 
Research  and  Training,  and  (3)  personal  contact  with  employers 
and  processes. 

In  a  smaller  community,  or  even  in  the  high  schools  of  a 
large  community,  the  counsellors  might  naturally  combine  guid- 
ance with  actual  placement.  There  should  also  be  a  system  of 
replacement  and  follow-up  for  the  first  few  years  of  the  child's 
industrial  life.  A  certificate  for  each  job  is  strongly  recom- 
mended by  the  committee,  and  medical  examination  ought  to 
precede  each  issuance  of  a  certificate. 

The  evaluation  of  the  success  of  the  work  should  depend 
more  upon  its  quality  than  its  quantity,  and  this  should  be  a 
task  of  the  division  of  information,  research  and  training.  It 
is  not  unreasonable  to  expect,  says  the  committee,  that  an  or- 
ganization such  as  is  here  outlined  would  (i)  increase  the  per- 
centage of  children  who  remain  in  school  after  the  compulsory 
attendance  age,  (2)  increase  the  number  entering  specialized 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  355 

vocational  schools,  (3)  make  possible  the  classification  of  chil- 
dren for  instruction  according  to  their  innate  ability,  (4)  stim- 
ulate the  development  of  additional  needed  courses  within  the 
curriculum,  (5)  decrease  the  number  of  children  entering  and 
remaining  in  jobs  which  offer  no  incentive  to  advancement,  (6) 
increase  the  number  who  find  opportunity  for  such  advance- 
ment, (7)  increase  the  demand  for  vocational  information  by 
teachers,  students  and  parents,  and  (8)  stimulate  the  interest 
of  the  entire  community  in  the  solution  of  the  problem. 


VOCATIONAL   STUDY1 

Because  naturally  the  thing  that  the  average  individual  is 
most  interested  in  is  himself,  because  I  had  seen  so  many  young 
people  come  to  the  university  and  flounder  around  for  several 
years  without  finding  a  real  aim  or  a  serious  purpose  to  direct 
their  college  work,  and  because  I  had  seen  others  waste  years 
in  preparation  for  something  for  which  they  were  not  fitted  or 
in  which  they  were  not  keenly  interested,  I  decided  to  abandon 
many  of  the  conventional  rhetoric  themes  in  favor  of  a  voca- 
tional study.  My  idea  was  to  have  each  student  make  a  rather 
thoroughgoing  analysis  of  some  vocation  with  special  reference 
to  himself. 

The  plan  for  the  experiment  was  comparatively  simple.  It 
started  with  a  questionnaire,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  get 
that  background  of  the  student  which  might  affect  his  vocational 
inclination.  The  information  included  the  size  and  type  of  his 
home  town,  his  high  school,  the  subjects  studied  in  order  of  his 
preference  and  his  grading  in  them,  vocational  training  and 
experience,  why  he  worked  and  why  he  quit,  the  use  he  made 
of  his  earnings,  talents  and  training  possessed  which  might  help 
to  support  him,  the  occupations  of  his  father,  brothers,  mother, 
sisters,  and  uncles,  his  first  and  second  choice  of  an  occupation, 
whether  or  not  his  parents  approved  and  were  willing  to  assist 
him  financially,  his  physical  condition,  and  interests  in  sports, 
amusements,  and  organizations. 

Short   themes   followed,   answering  such  questions  as :   Why 

1  From  article  "Roast  Beef  Instead  of  Hash,"  by  George  Starr  Lasher, 
University  of  Chicago  High  School.  English  Journal.  6:664-76. 
December,  1917. 


356  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

did  you  come  to  the  University  of  Michigan?  What  influenced 
you  in  your  choice  of  an  occupation?  What  is  your  purpose  in 
choosing  that  particular  occupation?  What  do  you  actually 
know  about  the  vocation  chosen  and  how  did  you  secure  that 
information?  Just  how  seriously  and  how  thoroughly  have  you 
considered  the  question?  What  should  one  know  about  the 
profession  he  expects  to  enter? 

A  questionnaire  was  then  given  in  which  concrete  in- 
formation about  the  profession  was  demanded.  This  had  the 
double  purpose  of  getting  definite  facts  as  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  students  with  regard  to  their  intended  vocations  and  of  mak- 
ing them  realize  how  little  they  actually  knew  concerning  the 
work  they  purposed  entering.  The  questionnaire  covered  actual 
duties  at  the  start,  duties  when  established,  the  demand  for  the 
work,  opportunity  of  getting  a  start,  best  location  for  a  start, 
necessary  and  desirable  training  in  school  and  elsewhere,  appren- 
iceship,  necessary  professional  development  after  graduation, 
cost  of  equipment  at  the  start,  size  of  income  at  the  start,  rate 
of  increase,  size  after  five  years,  maximum  and  average,  neces- 
sary standard  of  living  and  the  cost,  opportunities  to  earn 
money  indirectly,  social  compensations,  opportunities  for  civic 
responsibilities  and  social  service,  physical,  mental,  moral,  and 
social  qualities  required,  demand  for  executive  and  initiative  abil- 
ity, working  conditions  as  to  hours,  routine,  exposure,  dangers, 
health  and  morals,  chance  for  daily  recreation,  vocations,  and 
avocations,  ease  of  changing  business  location,  opportunity  for 
specialization,  advancement,  change  within  occupation  or  to 
other  similar  occupations,  restrictions  upon  expression  of  per- 
sonal opinion  and  ways  of  living,  other  disadvantages,  qualities 
possessed  favorable  to  success,  personal  handicaps  that  must  be 
overcome,  fundamental  ethics  of  the  profession,  and  what  has 
been  done  by  leaders  in  the  profession  for  the  betterment  of 
society. 

As  might  be  expected,  very  few  had  an  adequate  knowledge 
of  the  demands  of  their  vocation,  but  the  questionnaire  had  the 
desired  effect  of  directing  their  investigation.  .  It  also  aided  them 
in  filling  the  next  assignment,  which  was  to  make  out  a  course 
of  study  to  follow  during  their  university  life  and  justify  their 
selections.  Next  they  prepared  an  exhaustive  bibliography  in- 
cluding lists  of  books,  magazine  articles,  and  pamphlets  in  the 
library  dealing  with  their  professions. 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  357 

The  final  assignment  in  the  vocational  study  was  the  prep- 
aration of  a  long  theme  discussing  a  vocation  in  its  relation  to 
the  individual  writer  and  carefully  analyzing  its  demands  and 
the  individual's  ability  to  meet  them.  Concrete  information 
along  the  lines  suggested  by  the  second  questionnaire  was  in- 
sisted upon.  The  minimum  for  the  theme  was  2,500  words. 
Several  weeks  previous  to  the  date  on  which  the  theme  was 
due  a  thoroughgoing  analytical  outline  was  handed  in.  This 
was  criticized,  corrected  carefully,  and  then  used  as  a  basis 
for  the  theme.  Accompanying  the  theme  was  a  descriptive  or 
annotated  bibliography  representing  a  minimum  of  fifteen  hours 
of  reading.  In  addition  to  this  reading,  the  students  were  urged 
to  talk  with  leaders  in  the  profession  chosen  and  get  informa- 
tion and  assistance  from  them.  I  made  no  attempt  to  influence 
their  choice  or  to  advise  the  students,  as  my  knowledge  of  the 
various  vocations  is  frankly  superficial.  I  merely  directed  the 
work,  helping  the  student  to  find  suitable  material  when  his  own 
efforts  failed.  My  idea  was  to  make  each  individual  feel  that 
he  had  a  special  problem  and  was  responsible  for  working  it 
out. 


RESTORING   CRIPPLES  TO  THE   INDUSTRIAL 
RANKS  * 

Congress,  in  the  closing  hours  of  the  sixty-sixth  session, 
passed  two  notable  acts.  First,  in  response  to  a  request  from 
the  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education  for  $90,303,000  for 
its  current  budget,  an  appropriation  of  $90,000,000  was  author- 
ized, practically  the  only  estimate  which  was  not  vigorously 
slashed  by  the  law-makers  in  their  drive  for  economy.  Sec- 
ondly, in  response  to  an  appeal  from  the  nation  at  large,  Con- 
gress passed  one  of  the  most  significant  bills  of  the  session; 
namely,  the  Industrial  Rehabilitation  Bill,  and  placed  its  execu- 
tion with  the  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education.  In 
short,  the  result  of  a  thoro  investigation  of  the  Federal  Board 
was  to  inspire  Congress  with  sufficient  confidence  in  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  to  place  in  their  hands  both  the  execution 
of  an  epochmaking  program  for  training  the  cripples  of  indus- 

1  By  R.  T.  Fisher,  Chief  of  the  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Educa- 
tion. Current  Opinion.  69:534-5.  October,  1920. 


358  SELECTED   ARTICLES 

try,  as  well  as  to  give  the  Board  practically  the  entire  amount 
of  the  budget  they  had  requested. 

Rehabilitation  of  our  ex-service  men  has  been  rightly  insisted 
upon  as  a  debt  of  honor;  but  do  we  realize  that  four  or  five 
times  as  many  men  are  disabled  every  year  in  the  "battlefields 
of  industry"  fighting  for  a  living,  as  were  disabled  in  the  Amer- 
ican Expeditionary  Forces  fighting  for  the  principles  of  democ- 
racy? After  all,  is  not  the  right  to  earn  a  decent  living  one  of 
the  principles  of  democracy?  The  number  of  persons,  a  quarter 
of  a  million,  injured  annually  through  industrial  accidents  in  the 
United  States  is  appalling.  During  the  nineteen  months  of  war, 
we  had  48,000  men  who  were  killed  or  died  of  wounds  in  France. 
During  that  same  period,  there  were  killed  by  accident  in  Amer- 
ica 126,000  persons,  of  which  number  35,000  occurred  in  industry. 

In  point  of  dollars,  re-training  the  industrially  disabled  men 
means  an  increased  productive  value  to  the  nation  of  amounts 
heretofore  little  understood.  I  believe  we  are  easily  within  con- 
servative estimates  in  saying  that  any  seriously  disabled  man 
who  can  be  vocationally  rehabilitated  will  have  his  earning 
capacity  increased  by  a  total  of  at  least  $12,500  for  the  remaining 
period  of  his  life  and  that  his  increased  productive  value  to  the 
nation  will  easily  reach  $50,000.  The  Federal  Board  for  Voca- 
tional Education  is  just  now  gathering  data  on  this  subject;  but 
assuming  that  not  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  permanently  dis- 
abled require  re-training,  we  would  have  50,000  men  a  year  to 
be  trained.  If  each  re-trained  man  returns  to  the  productive 
value  of  the  nation  an  average  of  $50,000  in  the  remainder  of 
his  life,  the  increment  accruing  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation 
would  amount  to  two  and  one-half  billion  dollars. 

This  enormous  figure,  be  it  remembered,  is  the  estimated 
result  of  training  those  persons  crippled  each  year  in  industry. 
When  the  program  shall  have  been  thorogoing  and  nation-wide, 
only  the  most  optimistic  prophets  can  conceive  its  possibilities. 
There  is  no  field  today  where  the  State  or  nation  can  obtain 
so  large  an  economic  return  on  an  investment  as  in  rehabilitat- 
ing the  disabled  of  industry;  so  that,  instead  of  having  depend- 
ent consumers  and  industrial  pensioners,  we  shall  have  inde- 
pendent producers  and  contented  citizens.  We  thus  come  to 
realize  that  the  undertaking  is  a  piece  of  advanced  social  legis- 
lation looking  to  the  end  that  all  men  shall  be  producers  in 


VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION  359 

proportion  to  their  ability,  and  that  neither  rich  nor  poor  shall 
be  permitted  to  become  parasites. 

The  Act  of  Congress  approved  June  2,  1920  does  not  pro- 
vide for  the  support  of  the  industrially  disabled  who  are  under- 
going vocational  training;  but  purposes  to  standardize,  super- 
vize  and  encourage  industrial  rehabilitation  in  the  various  States. 
The  problem  must  always  be  largely  a  State  problem,  because 
the  number  disabled  in  any  State  bears  a  definite  ratio  to  the 
number  of  persons  engaged  in  the  industries  of  that  State.  The 
State  which  is  responsible  for  the  most  industrial  cripples  is 
likewise  reaping  corresponding  profits  from  the  industries  in 
that  State  which  are  responsible  for  those  cripples.  Conse- 
quently, the  funds  for  Industrial  Rehabilitation  should  come 
chiefly  from  sources  of  State  taxation,  assuming  that  the  State 
will,  in  turn,  derive  taxes  for  that  purpose  from  the  profits  of 
those  industries  which  are  responsible  for  the  accidents. 


LD  21-100m-8,134 


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